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GREAT    RIVERS 


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MAP  OF  THE 

ROUTE  of  RICHARD  SMITH 


The  route  shown  in  red,  place  names  mentioned 
in  the  text  being  given  and  the  modern  county  lines 
inserted. 

[Compiled  by  the  Editor.] 


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A  TOUR  OF  FOUR 
GREAT  RIVERS 

HE  HUDSON,  MOHAWK,  SUSQUEHANNA  AND  DELAWARE 

IN      I769 
BEING   THE   JOURNAL   OF 

RICHARD  SMITH 

OF    BURLINCHON,    NEW   JERSEY 
EDITED,   WITH    A 

SHORT  HISTORY  OF  THE  PIONEER  SETTLEMENTS, 

BY 

FRANCIS  W.  HALSEY 

AUTHOR    OF    "THE    OLD    NEW    YORK    FRONTIER." 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1906 


Copyright,   1906,  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons 

Published  May,  igob 


THE  DEVINNE  PRESS 


TO 
EDWARD  CARY 


*  G  2 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


GREAT    SEAL   OF    THE    PROVINCE    OF    NEW    YORK 

Reproduced  on  the  Cover 
In  use  from  1767  until  the  Revolution. 
From  an  impression  in  the  State  Library  at  Albany. 

MAP   OF   THE   ROUTE   OF   RICHARD    SMITH    .     .     .    Frontisfiea 

The   route   shown  in   red,  place  names  mentioned   in  the  text  being 

given  and  modern  county  lines  inserted. 
Compiled  by  the  Editor. 

FACING    PAGE 

PORTRAITS    OF    RICHARD    SMITH xiv 

(1)  From    a    sketch  in    the    Emmet    Collection   of  the  Lenox    Library, 

•where  it  is  described  as  *  •  taken  from  a  silhouette  in  the  Coates 
collection." 

(2)  From  a  silhouette  owned  in  the  family. 

SMITH    HALL xviii 

Built  in  Laurens,  Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1773,  by  Richard  Smith,  and 
now  perhaps  the  oldest  house  in  Central   New  York   south  of  the 
Mohawk  Valley.      The  piazza  was   recently  added   by  the  present 
owner,  W.  V.   Huntington. 
From  a  recent  photograph. 

PART  OF  THE  VISSCHER  MAP  OF  NEW  NETHERLANDS        xxix 

Drawn  before  1656  and  showing  the  Hudson,  Mohawk,  St.  Lawrence, 

Susquehanna  and  Delaware  Rivers. 
From  a  copy  in  the  Emmet  Collection  of  the  Lenox  Library. 

vii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

NEW    AMSTERDAM    IN    OR    BEFORE     1655 xxxii 

From  a  view  engraved  on  the  margin  of  the  Nicolas  J.  Visscher  Map 

of  New  Netherlands. 
This  view  is  almost  identical  with  one  given  by  Van  der  Donck. 

COLONIAL    HOUSES    IN    NEW    YORK    CITY xxxvi 

(1)  The  Franklin  House  in  Franklin  Square.      Built  about  1770. 

(2)  The  Walton  House  in  Franklin  Square.     Built  in  1750. 

(3)  Bums' s  Coffee  House  in  Broadway,  just  above  Trinity  Church. 

Garden  view. 

(4)  Burns' s  Coffee  House.      Front  view. 
From  old  prints. 

HUDSON    RIVER    MANOR    HOUSES        xxxviii 

(1)  The  Verplanck  House  in  Fishkill.     Built  about  1740. 

(2)  The  Beekman  House  in  Rhinebeck. 

(3)  The  Van  Rensselaer  House  which  survived  in  Albany  until  recent 

years.  Threatened  with  demolition,  it  has  been  removed  to 
Williamstown,  Mass.,  and  there  re-erected  as  a  college  frater- 
nity house. 

(4)  The  Van  Cortlandt  House  on  Croton  Bay. 
From  old  prints. 

COLONIAL   BUILDINGS  IN    ALBANY    AND    ON  THE 

MOHAWK xlii 

(1)  The  Mabie  House  near  Rotterdam,  built  in   1680,  and  the  oldest 

house  now  standing  in  the  Mohawk  Valley. 

(2)  St.  George's  Church,  Schenectady,  built  in  1759. 

(3)  The  Queen  Anne  Parsonage  at  Fort  Hunter,  built  in  171 2. 

(4)  An  Eighteenth  Century  Street  Scene  in  Albany. 

The  first  three  from  recent  photographs.     The  last  from  an  old  print. 

OLD    SWEDISH,    OR    HOLY   TRINITY,    CHURCH    IN    WIL- 
MINGTON, DEL lxii 

Built  in    1698,  and,  in  continuous  occupation,  said  to   be  the  oldest 
church  building  in  the  United  States. 

From  a  sketch  made  by  Benjamin  Ferris  in   1843  and  engraved  by 
John  Sartain. 

viii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

COLONIAL    BUILDINGS    ON    THE    DELAWARE lxiv 

(i)  The  Laetitia  House  on  its  old  site.  Now  standing  as  re-erected  in 
Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia.  Built  by  William  Pcnn  and  for 
a  time  his  home. 

(2)  The  Quaker  Meeting  House  in  Burlington  ( 1 683-1 787). 

(3)  The     Old    Patrick    Colvin    Ferry   House,    still   standing   opposite 

Trenton. 

(4)  The  Slate  Roof  House  in  Philadelphia.       Occupied   by  William 

Penn  from  1699  to  1700. 
From  old  prints. 

NEW    YORK    CITY    IN    1768 + 

Looking  southeast  from  a  point  on  Manhattan  Island  near  the  Hudson 
River,   and   showing,   in   the  center,    King's   College   and   Trinity 
Church  spire,  and  in  the  distance  on  the  right,  Staten  Island. 
From  a  sketch  "drawn  on  the  spot  by  Captain  Thomas  Hovudell,  of  the 
Royal  Artillery,  "  and  engraved  by  P.  Canot. 

THE    PHILIPSE    MANOR    HOUSE 6 


Still  standing  and  for  many  years  in  use  as  the  City  Hall  of  Yonkers. 
From  a  steel  engraving  of  about  18 JO. 

MAPS    OF    ALBANY    AND    NEW    YORK    CITY 16 

(1)  Albany  as  surveyed  by  Robert  Yates  about  1770. 

From  a  reproduction  of  the  original  in  Volume  HI  of  the  "Documentary 
History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

(2)  Bernard  Ratzen's  Map  of  New  York,  drawn  in  1767. 
Reproduced  from  a  copy  in  the  Lenox  Library. 

TWO    VIEWS    OF    COHOES    FALLS 20 

(1)  From  a  drawing  by  Isaac  Weld,  the  traveler  and  author,  published 

in  London  in  1798. 

(2)  From  a  sketch  by  Governor  Thomas  Poivnall,  made  sometime  before 

1760,  and  engraved  by  H'illiam   Elliot. 

FORT    JOHNSON    IN    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY  ...      26 

Built  by  Sir  William  Johnson  in  1  -42,  and  still  standing  between  Am- 
sterdam and  Fonda. 
From  an  old  French  print. 

ix 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

JOSEPH    BRANT   (THAYENDANEGEA) 38 

From  a  portrait  made  in  London  from  life  during  Brant's  'visit  in 
1776,  the  same  being  an  original  drawing  formerly  in  the  possession 
of  James  Bosivell. 

FOUR    INDIAN    POTENTATES    OF    NEW    YORK       .      ...      66 

(1)  Tee  Yee  Neen  Ho  Ca  Row,  Emperor  of  the  Six  Nations. 

(2)  Etow  Oh  Koam,  King  of  the  River  Indians,  or  Mohicans. 

(3)  Saga  Yeath  Qua  Pieth  Tow,  King  of  the  Maquas,  or  Mohawks. 

(4)  Ho  Nee  Yeath  Taw  No    Row,    King  of  the   Generethgarichs, 

or  Canajoharies. 

From  portraits  painted  in  London  by  I.  Verelst  in  17 10,  during  a  visit 
of  these  Indians  <voith  Peter  Schuyler  to  {Queen  Anne. 

On  the  margin  of  other  portraits  made  in  London  at  the  same  time,  these  In- 
dians are  described  as  "  the  four  kings  of  India  who  on  the  2  May  17 10  were 
admitted  by  ber  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  praying  assistance  against 
the  French  in  America,  between  New  England  and  Canada." 

A   PAGE    OF    THE    ORIGINAL    MANUSCRIPT 68 

Illustrating,  by  comparison  with  the  adjoining  text,  the  changes  made 

by  Richard  Smith  in  his  transcript. 
Reproduced  in  facsimile  from  Mr.  Smith's  original  "Journal,  oivned  by 

J.  Francis  Coad,  of  Charlotte  Hall,  Maryland. 

INDIAN  RELICS  FOUND  ON  THE  UPPER  SUSQUEHANNA    .      86 

(1)  Gorgets                          (  7  )  Small  adzes  (13)  Sinew  stone 

(2)  Pipes                               (  8 )  Arrow  points  (14)  Small  axes 

(3)  Pipe  with  snake            (  9  )  Small  gouges  (15)  Knife  blades 

carving                     (10)  Stone  beads  (16)  Banner  stones 

(4)  Amulets                         (11)  Spear  points  ( 1 7)  Spear  points 

(5)  Spear  points                   (12)  Scrapers  (18)  Perforators 

(6)  Spear  points 

Photographed  from  specimens  chosen  from  the  collection  of  Willard  E. 
Yager,  of  Oneonta,  New  York. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION 

rAci 

I  Richard  Smith xiii 

II  The   Pioneers  of  the  Hudson xxiii 

III  The   Pioneers  of  the   Mohawk xl 

IV  The  Pioneers  of  the  Susquehanna liii 

V  The  Pioneers  of  the  Delaware lxi 

PART  II 
A  TOUR  OF  FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

I    THE  HUDSON; 

By   Sloop    from    New    York  to    Albany,   164  Miles,  May 

5 — May  11,   1769 3 

II  THE  MOHAWK: 

By  Wagon  Road  from  Cohoes  to  Canajoharie,  52  Miles, 
May  11 — May  13 19 

III  THE  SUSQUEHANNA: 

By  Wagon  Road  from  Canajoharie  to  Otsego  Lake;  Thence 
by  Canoe  to  Old  Oghwaga,  106  Miles;  May  13 — June  5, 
1769 29 

IV  THE  DELAWARE; 

By  Indian  Trail  from  Old  Oghwaga  to  Cookooze;  Thence  by 
Canoe  to  Burlington,  236  Miles,  June  5 — June  10,  1769      .      70 

V    A  TABLE  OF  DISTANCES 81 

VI  NOTES    ON    THE    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS   OF 

THE  INDIANS 83 

VII    INDEX 89 


PART  I 

HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION 


i 

RICHARD    SMITH 

ASa  contemporary  record  of  human  and  other 
/  %  conditions  in  the  valleys  of  four  great  rivers, 
1  m  during  the  period  between  the  Stamp  Act 
and  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the 
journal  of  Richard  Smith  has  particular  historical 
value.  Three  of  these  valleys,  or  some  parts  of  them, 
at  that  time  had  been  undergoing  settlement  by 
Europeans  for  somewhat  more  than  i  oo  years,  while 
the  fourth  had  been  in  the  hands  of  Europeans  for 
about  twenty-five.  Except  for  the  towns  which  had 
grown  up  at  or  near  their  mouths,  each  made  its 
way  through  a  country  still  sparsely  settled.1  Aside 
from  the  fur  trade,  agriculture  was  the  chief  industry, 

1  The  population  of  the  Province  of  New  York  in  1771,  exclusive  of  In- 
dians and  negroes,  was  about  150,000,  but  was  mainly  confined  to  New 
York  City,  Long  Island,  Staten  Island  and  the  Hudson  Valley.  West  of 
Orange,  Ulster  and  Albany  Counties  lay  the  County  of  Tryon,  comprising  a 
territory  that  now  includes  eight  counties,  besides  parts  of  three  others.  In 
all  that  frontier  territory  were  only  about  10,000  inhabitants. 

xiii 


FOUR    GREAT    RIVERS 

such  others  as  existed  being  subordinate  to  it — the 
shipping  that  conveyed  flour  to  the  West  Indies,  the 
small  tradesmen  who  earned  livelihoods  as  middle- 
men between  manufacturers  and  consumers. 

Mr.  Smith  saw  these  valleys,  when  the  Indians 
still  traversed  the  trails  that  had  been  worn  deep  by 
the  feet  of  their  forefathers,  and  when  the  bark  canoe 
was  still  an  indispensable  adjunct  of  frontier  trade. 
His  journal  is  not  alone  valuable  because  of  the  con- 
ditions in  which  it  was  written,  but  also  for  the  dis- 
crimination and  precision  with  which  its  author  ob- 
served real  things  and  recorded  what  was  vital  and 
interesting  in  them.  In  many  ways  it  is  an  excep- 
tional document. 

Mr.  Smith  belonged  to  a  family  which  was  long 
settled  in  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  where  he  was  born 
March  22nd,  1735,  being  the  sixth  of  the  family 
who  in  succession  had  borne  the  name  of  Richard. 
He  was  a  brother  of  Samuel  Smith,  who  wrote  a 
history  of  New  Jersey,  that  is  still  held  in  esteem  by 
those  who  prosecute  historical  inquiries.  At  the 
family  home,  Green  Hill,  may  be  seen  to  this  day 
ancient  cherry  trees,  which  Richard  Smith  as  a  boy 
helped  to  plant.  Having  studied  law  in  Philadel- 
phia, he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  afterwards 
served  as  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  Assembly,  and 
as  State  Treasurer.1  When  he  made  his  tour  of  these 
four  rivers,  he  was  thirty-four  years  old.     The  jour- 

1  "The  Burlington  Smiths,"  by  R.  Morris  Smith  (1878). 

xiv 


RICHARD  SMITH 

nal  indicates  unusual  powers  of  observation  and  judg- 
ment for  a  man  of  that  age. 

The  immediate  purpose  of  Mr.  Smith  in  his  tour, 
was  to  make  a  survey  of  a  grant  of  land  now  known 
as  the  Otego  patent,  comprising  69,000  acres  on  the 
upper  Susquehanna,  in  which  he,  along  with  many 
others,  was  interested  as  a  proprietor.  He  and  his 
associates  were  a  few  of  the  many  from  distant  places 
who,  in  the  years  immediately  following  the  Fort 
Stanwix  Treaty  of  November,  1768,  explored  and 
surveyed  the  fertile  lands  bordering  on  the  Susque- 
hanna immediately  south  of  the  Mohawk. 

Fort  Stanwix,  the  scene  of  this  treaty,  of  which 
no  part  now  remains,  occupied  the  site  of  the  present 
City  of  Rome,  in  Oneida  County,  New  York.  It 
had  been  built  during  the  French  War,  taking  its 
name  from  a  British  general,  but  it  acquired  its  chief 
military  distinction  in  1777,  when,  under  the  name 
of  Fort  Schuyler,  it  became  the  scene  of  a  notable 
siege,  contemporary  with  the  battle  of  Oriskany, 
fought  eight  miles  east  of  it.  Oriskany  was  a  con- 
test between  Indians  and  Tories  on  the  one  hand, 
and  a  relief  force  bound  for  the  fort  on  the  other. 

For  many  years  before  the  treaty,  there  had  been 
chronic  trouble  with  the  Indians  on  the  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  frontiers,  the  Indians  having  grown 
more  and  more  discontented  with  the  white  man's 
"thirst  for  land."  Under  Sir  William  Johnson's 
direction,    a   council   was   at    last   called,  to  meet  at 


xv 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 
Fort  Stanwix,  its  purpose  being  to  establish  a  scien- 
tific frontier. 

This  council  in  its  results  became  a  memorable 
gathering.  The  Indians  who  came  numbered 
3,200, — probably  the  largest  number  who  ever  assem- 
bled in  America  for  a  conference  with  white  men. 
Sir  William  Johnson,  in  preparation  for  the  meeting, 
sent  to  Fort  Stanwix  twenty  large  batteaux  laden 
with  the  necessary  presents  for  the  Indians.  He 
ordered  sixty  barrels  of  flour,  fifty  barrels  of  pork, 
six  barrels  of  rice,  and  seventy  barrels  of  other  pro- 
visions, the  basis  of  his  calculation  being  that  each 
Indian  would  consume  twice  as  much  food  as  a 
white  man. 

After  several  days  devoted  to  the  preliminary  nego- 
tiations, the  conference  ended  in  the  formal  execu- 
tion by  the  Indians,  of  a  deed  in  which  was  delim- 
ited what  was  long  afterwards  famous  as  the  Line  of 
Property.  This  division  of  territory  surrendered  to 
the  white  man  all  title  to  lands  that  lay  east  of  this 
line,  which  began  near  the  eastern  end  of  Lake 
Oneida,  whence  it  proceeded  to  and  followed  the 
Unadilla  River  southward,  then  followed  part  of  the 
Delaware  and  part  of  the  Susquehanna  and  finally 
went  westward  to  the  Alleghany,  after  which  it  fol- 
lowed the  Ohio.  By  this  conveyance  was  definitely 
made  over  to  the  English  a  territory  out  of  which 
states  have  since  been  created,  forming  as  it  does  the 
basis  of  title  to  a  large  part  of  New  York  State,  as 
xvi 


RICHARD  SMITH 

well  as  of  Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. One  of  the  witnesses  to  the  transaction  was 
Benjamin  Franklin. 

The  deed  transferred  these  lands,  with  "  all  the 
hereditaments  and  appurtenances  in  the  fullest  and 
most  ample  manner  unto  our  said  Sovereign  Lord, 
King  George  III.,  his  heirs  and  successors,  to  and  for 
his  and  their  own  proper  use  and  behoof  forever." 
While  the  sum  paid  to  the  Indians  for  this  imperial 
territory  was  only  $50,000,  the  king  thought  the 
demands  of  the  Indians  "very  unreasonable,"  and 
contended  that  the  mother  country  ought  not  to 
have  "any  part  of  expense  of  a  measure  calculated 
for  the  local  interests  of  particular  colonies."1 

Once  the  treaty  had  been  signed,  the  granting  of  pat- 
ents to  the  newly  acquired  territory  became  an  active 
pursuit.  In  the  same  year  in  which  it  was  executed, 
John  Butler,  who  was  afterwards  to  acquire  an  in- 
famous name  at  Wyoming,  got  a  tract  on  the  But- 
ternut Creek  just  west  of  the  Otego  grant.  Following 
this  came  many  other  grants,  including  Croghan's 
at  Otsego  Lake,  where  twenty  years  later,  the  father 
of  Fenimore  Cooper  was  to  found  the  settlement 
that  still  bears  his  name. 

The  Otego  patent  comprised  a  considerable  part 
of  the  present  towns  of  Oneonta  and  Otego  in  Otsego 
County,  just  north  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  south  of 

1  A  fuller  account  of  this  treaty,  with  a  map  showing  in  detail  the  Line 
of  Property,  may  be  found  in  M  The  Old  New  York  Frontier  "  (  1901  ). 

xvii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Cooperstown.  In  issuing  it,  the  crown  reserved  "all 
white  or  other  sorts  of  pine  trees  fit  for  masts,  of  the 
growth  of  twenty-four  inches  in  diameter  and  up- 
wards, at  ten  inches  from  the  earth,  for  masts  for  the 
Royal  Navy  of  us,  our  heirs,  and  successors."  It 
imposed  as  a  condition  that  one  family  should  settle 
each  i  ,000  acres  within  three  years,  and  should  cul- 
tivate at  least  three  acres  for  every  fifty  acres  capable 
of  cultivation.1 

Mr.  Smith  made  his  tour  accompanied  by  Robert 
Wells  and  several  surveyors.  Soon  afterwards  he 
began  the  work  of  settling  his  part  of  the  tract  which 
comprised  four  thousand  acres  on  both  sides  of  the 
Otsdawa  Creek.2 

Several  families  were  induced  to  take  up  lands, 
but  one  of  his  projects,  the  founding  of  a  Quaker 
settlement,  was  thwarted  by  the  Border  Wars  of  the 
Revolution.  His  notes  to  his  journal,  written  twenty 
years  afterwards,  show  that  Mr.  Smith  personally 
visited  these  lands  in  1773,  1777  and  1783.  Dur- 
ing the  visit  of  1773,  he  built  a  house  known  after- 
wards as  Smith  Hall,  which  is  still  standing  in  the 
town  of  Laurens,  about  half  way  between  the  villages 

1  Land  papers  of  Richard  Smith,  now  owned  by  J.  Francis  Coad,  of 
Charlotte  Hall,  Maryland,  a  great-great-grandson  of  Mr.  Smith. 

2  The  reader  will  perhaps  pardon  the  personal  pleasure  which  it  gives  me 
to  recall  here  that,  during  a  vacation  from  college,  one  hundred  years  after 
Mr.  Smith  made  this  survey,  I  acted  as  chain  bearer  in  a  survey  on  these 
Otsdawa  lands,  the  purpose  being  to  determine  the  true  line  between  two 
farmers  who  had  carried  their  disputes  into  court. 

xviii 


RICHARD  SMITH 

of  Laurens  and  Mount  Vision.  He  described  the 
house  at  that  time  as  follows: 

"The  cellar  is  about  six  feet  high,  of  the  same 
dimensions  as  the  house,  that  is  thirty  by  twenty. 
Saturday,  July  17th,  we  raised  the  house  before  din- 
ner, the  persons  present  beside  myself,  Nathaniel 
Edwards,  John  Hicks,  Jonathan  Fitch,  Edward 
Halsey,  William  Ferguson,  Thomas  Wise,  Joseph 
Meynall,  William  Horner,  Joseph  Dean,  and  the 
carpenters  John  Newberry  and  John  Brown — no  rum 
or  other  liquor  than  good  water.  The  house  is  a 
frame  one,  two  stories  high,  each  of  eight  feet,  be- 
sides the  garret  and  cellar,  all  built  of  white  pine, 
except  white  oak,  and  black  oak,  or  red  oak  lath. 
It  is  to  have  two  large  windows  of  24  lights  each  in 
the  first  front  story,  and  three  above,  and  the  like 
in  the  rear,  with  two  small  windows  in  each 
end  above  and  below  ;  a  front  and  back  door  ;  one 
chimney  and  three  fire-places  in  the  Northeast  end, 
and  room  left  for  others  in  the  opposite  end,  with 
two  small  windows  in  the  cellar,  and  two  in  the 
garret.  It  is  the  only  house,  properly  speaking,  as 
yet  upon  the  Otego  patent,  the  rest  being  only  small 
log  huts."1 

During  the  Revolution  Mr.  Smith  served  as  a  dele- 
gate from  New  Jersey  to  the  First  Continental  Con- 

1  Memoranda  made  by  Mr.  Smith  in  1773  and  the  originals  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Coad.  Mr.  Coad  has  several  deeds  pertaining  to  the  Otego  patent, 
three  of  which  are  on  parchment.  Two  of  these  are  signed  by  Benjamin 
Franklin's  son,  William,  the  Colonial  governor  of  New  Jersey. 

xix 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

gress,  where  he  is  said  to  have  kept  the  journal  of  the 
proceedings.  In  Matteson's  picture,  entitled  "  The 
First  Prayer  in  Congress/'  his  portrait  is  given,  and 
on  some  of  the  early  issues  of  Continental  currency, 
his  signature  may  be  seen.1  He  was  elected  to  the 
Second  Continental  Congress,  but  afterwards  resigned 
in  consequence  of  ill  health.  After  the  war,  his  son, 
Richard  R.  Smith,  followed  William  Cooper  to 
Otsego  Lake,  and  in  the  winter  of  1 789-1 790, 
opened  the  first  store  in  the  settlement.  He  was 
afterwards  chosen  the  first  sheriff  of  the  county. 
Richard  Smith  about  1790,  removed  to  his  farm  at 
Smith  Hall,  "to  which  he  had  long  been  much 
attached,  and  which  he  continued  to  improve  and 
cultivate  to  the  year  1799,  when  he  removed  to 
Philadelphia."2 

On  September  17th,  1803,  Mr.  Smith  died  in 
Natchez,  while  making  a  tour  of  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  that 
place.  He  was  a  man  of  cultivated  mind,  as  his 
journal  amply  shows,  with  marked  literary  tastes. 
He  numbered  among  his  correspondents  Tobias  Smol- 
lett.1 His  son  describes  him  as  "a  man  of  incor- 
ruptible integrity,  of  gentle  and  amiable  manners,  of 
almost  unexampled  temperance,  having  through  the 
course  of  his  life,    never  been  known  to  drink  the 

1  "  The  Burlington  Smiths,"  by  R.  Morris  Smith  (1878). 

2  Manuscript  sketch  of  his  life,  signed  "his  affectionate  son,  Richard  R. 
Smith,"  dated  Philadelphia,  October  25,  1803,  and  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Coad. 

XX 


RICHARD  SMITH 

smallest  portion  of  ardent  spirits,  or  even  wine.  He 
possessed  a  strong  mind,  enriched  with  a  variety  of 
knowledge,  collected  from  judicious  observations 
upon  men  and  manners,  and  from  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  almost  every  author  of  note  in  the  ancient 
or  modern  languages." 

The  original  manuscript  of  the  journal  has  been 
carefully  preserved  by  Mr.  Smith's  descendants  and 
is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Coad.  In  October,  1790, 
a  transcript  of  it  was  made  "for  the  use  of"  M. 
Pierre  Eugene  du  Simitiere,  the  Swiss  artist,  who  was 
then  living  in  this  country,  and  to  whom  many 
eminent  men  sat  for  their  portraits.  Mr.  Smith 
prepared  for  this  transcript  a  series  of  comments  in 
the  form  of  notes,  running  with  the  text,  but  placed 
in  parentheses,  which  are  given  in  the  present  edi- 
tion as  foot-notes  with  the  initials  R.  S.  appended. 
From  this  transcript  another  copy  was  made  long 
afterward  and  eventually  came  into  the  possession  of 
George  H.  Moore,  formerly  the  Librarian  of  the 
Lenox  Library.  At  the  sale  of  Mr.  Moore's  books 
and  manuscripts  in  1894,  it  was  purchased  by  me, 
and  has  formed  the  basis  of  the  printer's  "copy"  in 
the  preparation  of  the  present  edition. 

Mr.  Coad  has  very  obligingly  lent  the  original 
manuscript  in  order  that  all  changes  made  in  the  two 
transcripts  might  be  noted.  Apparently  the  first 
transcript  was  made  under  Mr.  Smith's  own  eye,  if 
not  by  his  own  hand,  many  sentences  having  been  im- 
xxi 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

proved  here  and  there  as  to  construction  and  clear- 
ness of  expression,  but  otherwise  the  copy  of  this 
transcript  and  the  original  journal  are  the  same. 
The  reader  therefore  possesses  the  journal  as  Mr. 
Smith  desired  it  to  be  read  by  others,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  notes  that  were  appended  by  him  twenty- 
one  years  after  the  original  was  written.  Except 
for  a  few  extracts,  pertaining  to  particular  localities, 
making  in  all  about  one  fourth  of  the  whole,  the 
journal  is  not  known  to  have  been  printed  before. 


xxn 


II 

THE    PIONEERS    OF     THE     HUDSON 

WHEN  Mr.  Smith  reached  New  York, 
May  5th,  1769,  he  found  it  scarcely  yet 
recovered  from  the  turmoil  incident  to 
the  Non-Importation  Agreement  of  1765,  in  which 
(perhaps  unconsciously,  but  none  the  less  definitely), 
had  been  begun  the  foundations  of  American  manu- 
facturing; incident  also  to  the  Stamp  Act  Congress 
of  the  same  year,  the  arrival  of  the  stamps,  and  their 
seizure  and  locking  up  in  the  City  Hall  then  standing 
in  Wall  Street  on  the  site  of  the  present  Sub-Treasury 
Building.  Only  four  years  had  passed  since  British 
officials  were  hung  in  effigy  in  the  streets  of  New 
York  and  the  state  carriage  of  the  Acting  Governor, 
Cadwallader  Colden,  was  hauled  down  to  Bowling 
Green,  and  there  publicly  burned.  Liberty  poles 
were  now  being  maintained  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Post  Office  Building,  with  much  difficultv,  when 
maintained  at  all.  One  year  later  was  to  be  fought, 
in  John  Street,  the  Battle  of  Golden  Hill,  in  which, 
with  a  prostrate  liberty  pole  for  its  immediate  cause, 
was  shed  the  first  blood  of  the  Revolution. 

The  Province  of  New  York  was  then  one   of  the 
xxiii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

smallest  of  the  American  colonies,  both  in  population 
and  in  resources.  The  city  made  a  much  better  com- 
parative showing  than  the  country,  but  was  still  third 
among  the  large  cities.  It  had  special  importance 
as  the  administrative  centre  for  Royal  interests  in 
America,  so  that  a  small  court,  modelled  after  the 
London  example,  could  be  said  to  have  been  main- 
tained here.  Coaches  were  owned  by  twenty-six 
persons,  chariots  by  thirty-three,  and  phaetons  by 
twenty-six,  while  eighty-five  gentlemen  were  entitled 
to  display  coats  of  arms.1 

In  a  social  sense,  the  city  was  perhaps  more  im- 
portant than  Boston  or  Philadelphia.  The  notable 
houses  were  the  Walton  in  Franklin  Square,  and  the 
Kennedy,  at  No.  i  Broadway.  There  were  three  Epis- 
copal, or  Established,  churches;  three  Presbyterian 
churches,  and  three  Dutch  Reformed  ones,  while  six 
other  denominations  had  each  one  church, — the 
Methodists,  Moravians,  Baptists,  Quakers,  French 
Catholics  and  Jews.  King  s  College  was  a  notable 
seat  of  learning  for  the  Middle  Colonies,  and  there 
was  one  theatre.  Other  buildings  were  the  City 
Hall,  Fort  George,  the  Royal  Exchange,  and 
Fraunces'  Tavern. 

Thomas  Jones,2  the  loyalist,  has  drawn  an  idyllic 
picture  of  the  city  as  he  knew  it  in  1752,  describing 
that  period  as  "the  golden  age,"  the  city  being  then 

1  Du  Simitiere. 

2  "  History  of  the  Province  of  New  York." 

xxiv 


PIONEERS    OF  THE  HUDSON 

"in  its  happiest  state."  The  inhabitants  were  in- 
creasing in  numbers  and  wealth ;  luxury  was  un- 
known ;  the  strife  of  parties  was  forgotten ;  and  peace 
prevailed  on  the  northern  frontier. 

While  the  city  had  grown  as  the  rural  parts  could 
not,  the  city  in  its  first  years  grew  slowly.  Three 
years  after  the  first  settlement,  a  horse  grist  mill,  in 
South  William  Street  near  Pearl,  was  about  the  only 
visible  sign  of  a  settlement  meant  to  be  permanent. 
Twelve  years  later  the  town  had  only  three  hundred 
inhabitants,  and  only  seven  farms  were  under  culti- 
vation. Father  Jogues1  in  1644  found  four  or  five 
hundred  people  in  the  place,  who  spoke  eighteen  dif- 
ferent languages.  In  1652  one  small  wharf,  fifty 
feet  long,  sufficed  for  trade,  the  population  being 
eight  hundred  for  the  city,  and  two  thousand  for  the 
Province.  Few  of  the  permanent  settlers  were 
Dutch,  the  Dutch  who  came  in  those  years  being 
traders.  After  the  expulsion  of  the  Spaniards  the 
Dutch  had  shown  reluctance  to  emigrate  from  Hol- 
land, feeling  that  "no  country  was  pleasanter  to  live 
in."2 

But  a  powerful  impetus  was  given  to  the  city  some 
thirty  years  afterwards,  when  was  passed  the  Bolting 
Act,  which  provided  that  no  mill  outside  of  the  city 
should  grind  flour  for  market.  This  monopoly  con- 
tinued in  force  sixteen  years,  and  the  town  under  its 

1  "Description  of  New  Netherlands." 

2  John  Fiske's  **  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies." 

XXV 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

fostering  influence  went  forward  with  rapid  strides. 
Indeed  the  Bolting  Act  may  be  said  to  have  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  New  York.1 

Combined  with  other  causes,  this  discrimination 
restricted,  as  with  an  iron  hand,  the  growth  of 
settlements  in  the  Hudson  Valley.  Such  attempts 
as  were  made  there,  were  constantly  checked,  first  by 
the  Indians,  and  then  by  aggressions  from  the  French 
in  Canada,  extending  over  quite  one  hundred  years. 
Immigrants  in  these  circumstances  chose  the  safer  val- 
leys offered  in  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  As  the 
whole  northern  frontier  of  New  York  was  exposed 
to  this  danger,  it  was  feared  that  the  French  might 
secure  the  Hudson  Valley,  in  which  case  no  settle- 
ments there  would  be  secure.  The  city  itself  scarcely 
felt  safe,  Fort  George  at  the  Battery  being  kept  con- 
stantly in  a  state  of  military  efficiency.  As  early  as 
the  time  of  Frontenac  (1687),  Canadian  officials 
had  urged  the  conquest  of  New  York  as  a  measure 
which  would  make  the  King  of  France  master  of 
North  America.  The  danger  was  not  completely 
removed  until  the  fall  of  Quebec,  and  the  Treaty  of 
Paris  in  1763  had  forever  ended  the  power  of  France 
in  the  New  World. 

Let  me  outline  briefly  such  work  as  had  been  done 
to  people  the  Hudson  Valley  during  the  century  and 
a  quarter  that  had  elapsed  since  the  Walloons  in 
1623  made  the  first  actual  settlement  on   Manhattan 

1  Janvier's  "  In  Old  New  York." 

xxvi 


PIONEERS    OF  THE  HUDSON 

Island.  In  1 6 14,  on  an  island  opposite  Albany,  the 
Dutch  had  founded  a  trading  post,  and  in  1623, 
Albany  itself  was  founded,  with  Walloons  for  the 
principal  settlers.  In  1644,  Father  Jogues  described 
Albany  as  having  "a  wretched  little  fort  called  Fort 
Orange,"  with  a  population  of  100,  who  reside  in 
25  or  30  houses,  "all  made  of  boards,  and  thatched, 
the  only  mason's  work  being  in  the  chimneys." 

The  place  thrived,  however,  as  a  trading  post.  In 
the  year  1656,  46,500  beaver  and  other  skins  were 
shipped  from  Albany  to  New  Amsterdam.  And  yet 
when  Mr.  Smith  made  his  visit  one  hundred  years 
afterward,  the  houses  in  Albany  numbered  only  three 
hundred,  and  it  was  by  no  means  attractive  as  a  place 
to  live  in.  It  was  still  guarded  by  a  stockade,  and 
had  in  the  centre  a  small  fort,  "a  sort  of  citadel," 
provided  with  cannon,  and  capable  of  holding  three 
hundred  men.1  In  1678,  this  fort  with  its  12  guns 
was  described  as  "sufficient  against  the  Indians,"  and 
in  1687,  it  had  small  arms  for  forty  men.2  It  was 
sometimes  called  Fort  Aurania,  but  more  often  Fort 
Orange. 

In  these  years  the  Dutch  had  well  explored  the 
interior  of  the  Province.  The  Visscher  "  Map  of 
New  Netherlands,"  which  dates  from  before  1656, 
shows  the  course  of  the  Hudson,  Mohawk,  Susque- 
hanna and  Delaware  with    a   fair  degree  of  general 

1  "Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York." 

2  Dongan's  **  Report  on  the  Province." 

xxvii 


PART  OF  THE  VISSCHER  MAP  OF  NEW  NETHERLANDS 

DRAWN  BEFORE  1656  AND  SHOWING  THE  HUDSON,  MOHAWK,   ST.     LAWRENCE, 

SUSQUEHANNA  AND  DELAWARE  RIVERS 

From  a  copy  in  the  Emmet  Collection  of  the  Lenox  Library 


PIONEERS   OF  THE  HUDSON 

accuracy,  while  the  number  of  place  names  given 
is  surprisingly  large. 

The  first  efforts  made  to  establish  settlements  along 
the  Hudson  met  with  constant  obstructions  in  the 
form  of  Indian  hostilities.  In  one  of  the  outlying 
settlements  the  Indians,  in  1643,  killed  forty  Hol- 
landers and  burned  many  houses,  besides  barns  filled 
with  grain.1  At  Esopus,  or  Rondout,  a  trading 
post  had  been  established  in  1614,2  and  what  could 
be  called  a  settlement  was  made  there  about  1640, 
when  the  entire  population  of  the  Province  did  not 
exceed  one  thousand. 

These  first  pioneers  at  Esopus  were  forced  away 
by  the  Indians,  but  the  place  was  soon  settled  again, 
and  in  1655  Peter  Stuyvesant  personally  staked  out 
a  village  there  and  sent  twenty-four  soldiers  to  guard 
it.  In  1657  the  place  was  described  as  "  an  exceed- 
ingly beautiful  land,"  where  "some  Dutch  inhab- 
itants have  settled  themselves,  and  prosper  especially 
well."3  By  1658  Esopus  contained  between  sixty 
and  seventy  Europeans  who  that  year  put  "  990 
schepels  of  seed  grain  into  the  ground."4  They  had 
found  it  necessary,  however,  to  live  close  together  in 
villages,  although  cultivating  lands  at  a  distance,  and 
to  build  a  fort  on  the  site  of  Rondout,  and  hence 
the  name  Rondout. 

1  Jogues. 

2  E.  M.  Bacon's  "The  Hudson  from  Ocean  to  Source." 

3  "Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

4  A  schepel  is  the  equivalent  of  a  bushel. 

xxix 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 
In  1658,  the  village  resisted  a  siege  from  the  In- 
dians, and  in  1 66 1 ,  after  the  new  village  of  Wiltwick, 
now  Kingston,  had  been  founded,  the  pioneers  were 
again  attacked.  Wiltwick  was  completely  destroyed, 
twelve  buildings  being  burned,  eighteen  people  killed, 
six  made  prisoners,  and  sixty-five  others  taking  flight.1 
Three  years  later  the  Eastern  shore  of  the  Hudson 
was  devasted  by  the  Mohicans.  In  spite  of  these 
warnings,  settlers  returned  to  Esopus,  and  in  1668 
were  founded  the  neighboring  villages  of  Marbletown 
and  Hurley.  A  local  court  was  established,  and  in 
1673  Kingston  could  boast  a  warehouse  thirty  feet 
by  forty.  In  1646  and  1656,  deeds  to  land  on  Cat- 
skill  Creek  had  been  obtained  from  the  Indians,  and 
in  1656  one  at  Schodack. 

None  of  these  settlers  were  Englishmen,  the  Dutch 
having  strictly  prohibited  the  English  from  going  to 
Esopus  and  Albany.  Englishmen  from  Lynn,  Mass- 
achusetts, who  in  1639  had  sought  to  found  a  settle- 
ment at  Manhasset  on  Long  Island  were  driven  out 
by  the  Dutch,  and  sailing  eastward,  began  a  settlement 
at  Southampton,  which  was  probably  the  first  Eng- 
lish colony  planted  in  New  York  State.2  Some  years 
later  non-intercourse  was  proclaimed  with  Connecti- 
cut, and  in  1657  a  fine  of  ^50  was  imposed  for  har- 
boring Quakers  over  night,  while  any  vessel  bring- 
ing Quakers  into  the    City    was  subject  to  confisca- 

1  "Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York." 

2  Southold,  Long  Island,  also  claims  this  distinction.  The  rival  claims 
have,  I  believe,  never  been  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

XXX 


PIONEERS    OF  THE  HUDSON 

tion.x  French  Protestants,  however,  were  welcomed, 
Walloons  and  Huguenots  forming  a  considerable 
element  in  all  the  settlements  on  the  Hudson. 
Others  who  came  to  the  Province  were  Germans, 
Danes,  Norwegians  and  Bohemians. 

From  the  Esopus  centre  went  out  those  adventurous 
pioneers  who,  in  the  years  when  Esopus  was  attacked 
by  Indians,  pushed  westward  to  the  fertile  lands 
in  the  southwestern  part  of  Orange  County,  known 
collectively  as  Minisink,  where  grew  up  a  thriving 
settlement.  Before  the  century  closed,  a  neighboring 
one  called  Way  wayyonda  was  founded.  The  Indians 
gave  trouble  at  Minisink,  and  in  1669  a  massacre 
occurred,  "the  bloody  horrors  of  which  still  linger 
in  the  traditions  of  the  neighborhood."2 

These  Indian  wars  almost  depopulated  the  Prov- 
ince. When  they  began,  the  population  was  about 
2,500,  but  when  they  closed,  it  was  under  one  thou- 
sand. Indeed  it  was  not  until  some  years  after  the 
English  rule  had  become  well  established  that  the 
Province  could  again  boast  of  2,500  people. 

With  the  English  conquest,  fresh  efforts  were  made 
to  people  the  Hudson  Valley.  At  Esopus,  a  new  and 
large  tract  was  acquired  in  1664,  and  thirty  lots  were 
granted  to  each  soldier  of  the  garrison.  Twenty  years 
later  the  settlers  at  that  place  petitioned  to  be  allowed 
to  choose  their  own  officers  and  were  declared  rioters 

1  Broadhead's  "History  of  New  York." 

2  Stone's  "Life  of  Brant." 

xxxi 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

for  their  presumption.  After  having  been  bound 
over  to  keep  the  peace,  they  were  released  on  paying 
their  fines.  At  New  Paltz,  in  1677,  a  deed  to  a 
tract  twelve  miles  long  was  obtained  by  Hugue- 
nots who  had  been  in  Kingston  since  1660,  and  the 
beginnings  were  made  of  an  important  community. 
These  settlements  in  Orange  and  Ulster  Counties  long 
remained  the  granary  of  the  Province. 

In  1678,  the  entire  Province  contained  only 
twenty-four  towns,  villages  and  parishes;  and  twenty 
years  later  the  number  of  saw-mills — and  a  saw-mill 
was  a  first  necessity  to  pioneers — was  only  forty.1  The 
population  was  about  eight  thousand  in  1678.  Of 
these  the  city  alone  had  3,430,  who  were  housed  in 
about  four  hundred  dwellings.  Long  Island,  Staten 
Island  and  Westchester  County,  being  less  exposed 
to  hostilities  than  other  neighborhoods,  contained 
the  greater  part  of  the  remainder.  Twenty  years 
later  the  Province  had  17,000  inhabitants,  of  whom 
4,937  were  in  the  City,  and  8,241  on  Long  Island. 
In  Orange  County  were  only  219;  in  Ulster  and 
Dutchess  1,387,  and  in  Albany  County,  which  then 
extended  over  all  territory  in  the  Province  west  and 
north  of  the  present  limits  of  Albany  County,  were 
1, 384^  Few  of  the  immigrants  had  yet  come  from 
the  British  Isles.  In  1687  Governor  Dongan  de- 
clared that,  in  the  course  of  seven  years,  not  more 

1  Bellomont  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 

2  Returns  printed  in  the  "  Documentary  History   of  the  State  of  New 
York." 

xxxii 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  HUDSON 

than  twenty  of  the  immigrants  were  English,  Scotch 
or  Irish. 

One  important  cause  of  this  disinclination  to  settle 
in  New  York  was  the  use  made  of  the  Colony  by 
England  as  a  place  to  which  objectionable  or  crimi- 
nal persons  were  deported.  The  Colony  thus  ac- 
quired a  bad  name.  Moreover,  it  became  a  favorite 
resort  for  pirates,  to  whom  it  was  not  inhospitable, 
Captain  Kidd  being  among  the  number  received.  It 
also  maintained,  at  the  foot  of  Wall  Street,  a  slave 
market,  the  number  of  slaves  in  the  Province  in 
1723  being  more  than  6,000,  and  not  all  were 
black.1  The  city  itself  failed  at  times  to  keep  such 
headway  as  it  gained.  Lieutenant  Governor  Clarke,2 
in  1 74 1,  declared  that,  when  he  arrived  in  the  Prov- 
ince, he  found  "the  shipbuilding  almost  dead,"  and 
one  hundred  houses  "  empty  for  want  of  tenants." 
In  these  circumstances,  while  men  who  were  am- 
bitious of  official  life  eagerly  sought  positions  in 
New  York,  others  who  desired  to  take  up  industrial 
pursuits  and  rear  families,  preferred  to  plant  homes 
elsewhere. 

Along  the  Hudson  a  system  of  land  holdings  came 
into  existence  bv  which  settlements  were  still  further 
restricted.  In  1629  what  is  known  as  the  Charter 
of  Privileges  and  Exemptions  offered  liberal  grants 
of  land  to  those  who,  within  four  vears,  should  bring 


1  "Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

2  Letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 

xxxiii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

fifty  grown-up  persons  to  the  Province,  and  settle 
them  along  the  Hudson,  these  lands  to  be  held  as 
patroonships.  The  West  India  Company  reserved 
all  right  to  the  fur  trade,  but  other  privileges  almost 
feudal  were  acquired  by  the  patroons. 

Oldest  of  these  famous  estates  was  the  Van  Rens- 
selaer estate,  the  beginnings  of  which  were  made  as 
early  as  1630.  Its  founder  was  Killien  Van  Rens- 
selaer, who  was  interested  in  the  West  India  Com- 
pany, but  never  came  to  America.  From  his  home 
in  Amsterdam,  Holland,  he  employed  agents  to  trade 
with  the  Indians  on  the  upper  Hudson,  taking  lands 
in  exchange  for  goods.  This  manor  grew  in  time 
to  be  an  almost  independent  little  principality.  In 
1650,  complaint  was  made  by  the  authorities  on 
Manhattan  Island  that  the  patroon  "causes  all  his 
tenants  to  sign  that  they  will  not  appeal  to  the  Man- 
hattan authorities,"  and  in  practice  "absolutely  abol- 
ishes whomsoever  he  pleases,"  and  "  does  not 
allow  any  person  to  reside  there  except  at  his  pleasure 
and  upon  certain  conditions."  The  Van  Rensselaer 
patroonship  was  the  only  one  of  those  granted  by 
the  Dutch  which  survived  after  1664,  the  others 
having  "died  a  natural  death  or  been  bought  back 
by  the  Dutch  West  India  Company."1 

After  the  English  conquest,  other  feudalistic  estates, 
with  more  restricted  privileges,  were  founded   under 

1  Mrs.  Schuyler  Van  Rensselaer  in  the  "North  American  Review" 
for  August,  1 90 1. 

xxxiv 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  HUDSON 

the  name  of  manors.  Extending  from  Yonkers 
northward  to  the  Croton  River,  and  comprising  390 
square  miles,  Frederic  Philipse,  by  purchases  from 
the  Indians  and  by  grants  from  the  government,  ac- 
quired a  vast  tract,  which  in  1693  was  erected  into 
a  manor.1  North  of  him  was  the  Van  Cortlandt 
Manor,  dating  from  1697,  and  reaching  to  Anthony's 
Nose.  Its  manor  house,  still  standing,  was  built  to 
serve  as  a  fort  as  well  as  a  dwelling. 

Next  came  the  Romboudt  and  Verplanck  Manors, 
granted  in  1685,  when  Dongan  was  Governor,  and 
extending  between  the  Fishkill  and  Wappinger 
Creeks  several  miles  along  the  river,  and  sixteen 
miles  back  into  the  interior.  East  of  this  lay  the 
Beekman  Manor.  Next,  on  the  north,  lay  that 
part  of  the  river  where  Robert  Livingston  acquired 
a  princely  domain,  which  eventually  made  one  of  his 
heirs  the  richest  man  in  the  Province. 

The  owners  of  these  tracts  sought  to  secure  settlers, 
but  in  the  early  years  their  success  was  small.  Pioneers 
of  the  best  class,  seeking  freedom  in  the  new  world, 
were  reluctant  to  become  land  tenants,  a  condition  of 
life  in  which  the  old  world  had  taught  them  that 

1  Of  this  family  was  Mary  Philipse,  whose  hand  Washington  is  said  to 
have  sought  in  marriage,  not  knowing  she  was  already  engaged  to  Col.  Roger 
Morris.  By  a  strange  irony  of  fate,  the  house  which  she  and  Col.  Morris 
were  building  for  a  home  on  Manhattan  Island  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Smith's 
visit,  became  in  1776  the  headquarters  of  Washington,  Col.  and  Mrs. 
Morris  having  fled  from  the  city  as  loyalists.  One  of  the  romantic  traditions 
connected  with  this  marriage  is  that  an  Indian  soothsayer,  who  was  present 
at  the  ceremony,  remarked  to  Mary  Philipse,  "  your  possessions  shall  pass 
away  when  the  eagle  shall  despoil  the  lion." 

XXXV 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

there  was  serious  danger  of  becoming  serfs.  Such  as 
came  were  obliged  at  first  to  live  in  pits  dug  as  cel- 
lars might  be  and  then  roofed  over. 

Writing  in  1701,  the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  Governor 
of  the  Province,  declared  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,1 
that  "not  less  than  7,000,000  acres  have  been  granted 
away  in  thirteen  grants,  and  all  of  them  uninhabited, 
except  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer's  grant,  which  is  twenty- 
four  miles  square,  and  on  which  the  town  of  Albany 
stands."  Two  generations  had  passed  away  since 
these  Van  Rensselaer  lands  were  acquired.  Mean- 
while they  had  "fallen  into  many  hands  by  the 
Dutch  system  of  dividing  them  equally  among  their 
children." 

With  the  other  grants  no  such  favorable  results 
had  been  reached.  Bellomont  declared  that  Mr. 
Livingston  "has  on  his  great  grant  of  sixteen  miles 
long  and  twenty-four  broad  but  four  or  five  cottages, 
as  I  am  told — men  that  live  in  vassalage  under  him, 
and  work  for  him,  and  are  too  poor  to  be  farmers, 
having  not  the  wherewithal  to  buy  cattle  to  start  a 
farm."  Col.  Van  Cortlandt  "has  also  on  his  great 
grants  four  or  five  of  these  poor  families,"  his  two 
grants  being  each  twenty  miles  square.  Col.  Philipse 
on  his  manor  had  about  twenty  families  "of  those 
poor  people  that  worked  for  him."  "  I  do  not  hear," 
said  the  Governor  further,  "that  Philipse's  son,  Col. 
Schuyler,  Col.  Beekman,   or   Col.   Smith    have   any 

1  "  Documents   Relating  to   the   Colonial   History   of  New  York." 


XXXVI 


COLONIAL  HOUSES  IN   NEW  YORK  CITY 

/  .  tu     „•   ,     '"    THC  Kranklln  H"''^'i»  Franklin  Square       Buill  •boul 

(.)    ["he  Walton  H .ooseinFnuAlinSq.mn,  (,,    Man-  .  !wav>  jl]st 

,l"lti:  above  Trinity  Church.     Garten  view. 

U)  Bon  „,  vicw. 

From  ,<:.{  prints 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  HUDSON 

tenants  on  their  grants,"  and  then  added  that  many 
people  had  been  "wickedly  stripped  of  their  lands 
by  these  grantees." 

Early  in  the  new  century,  an  important,  though 
temporary,  accession  to  the  population  came  from 
Germany.  Men  of  the  peasant  class  from  the  Palat- 
inate, having  been  forced  by  the  wars  between  their 
country  and  France  to  leave  their  homes  in  a  state 
of  great  poverty,  sought  the  protection  of  Queen 
Anne,  and  made  arrangements  by  which  they  emi- 
grated to  New  York,  where  they  were  to  acquire 
lands  and  eventually  were  to  reimburse  the  Crown 
for  their  passage  money  and  other  expenses. 

Several  thousand  came  over,  beginning  in  1710. 
Under  Governor  Hunter,  it  was  arranged  that  they 
should  take  up  lands  in  Livingston  Manor,  where, 
about  eight  miles  below  the  city  of  Hudson,  five 
villages  were  laid  out  for  them.  But  they  did  not 
thrive;  under  the  conditions  imposed  they  found  it 
impossible  to  make  money,  and  after  a  stern  struggle 
for  a  few  years,  gave  up  the  task.  Many  removed 
to  Schoharie,  and  others  found  their  way  to  the  Upper 
Mohawk.  A  small  number  remained  in  the  Hud- 
son Valley — 126  families  on  the  east  side,  97  on  the 
west.  The  failure  of  these  settlements  was  excep- 
tional, but  it  illustrates  the  radical  defect  in  a  system 
of  land  holdings  which,  under  the  patroons  and  lords 
of  manors,  for  a  long  period  retarded  the  growth  of 
the  Hudson  Valley. 

xxxvii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

As  late  as  1759,  in  a  memorial  asking  for  clergy- 
men to  be  sent  to  the  Hudson  Valley,  it  was  stated 
that  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  "quite  as  far  as  we 
have  any  settlements  abounding  with  people,"  the 
country  was  destitute  of  ministers,  except  for  two 
Dutch  and  two  German  ones,  and  many  people  have 
almost  lost  all  sense  of  Christianity."  In  Philipse 
Manor  there  were  "  people  enough  for  a  large  con- 
gregation, without  any  minister."  In  other  words, 
it  was  mentioned,  as  if  somewhat  remarkable,  that 
from  Yonkers  to  the  Croton  River  there  were  enough 
people  to  fill  one  of  the  small  churches  of  that  day.1 

But  the  best  evidence  of  the  backward  condition 
of  the  Province  is  found  in  the  census.  New  York, 
which  in  our  day  has  long  stood  first  among  the 
States  in  population,  was  eighth  among  the  colonies 
in  1755.  Pennsylvania  in  that  year  had  220,000 
people,  Massachusetts  200,000,  Virginia  125,000, 
Maryland  100,000,  Connecticut  100,000,  New 
Hampshire  75,000,  New  Jersey  75,000,  and  North 
Carolina  75,000,  but  New  York  had  only  55,ooo.2 

Mr.  Smith's  tour  was  made  thirteen  years  after 
these  returns  were  compiled.  During  the  second 
half  of  this  period,  with  the  return  of  peace  and  a 
peace  which  it  was  known  would  last — at  least  so 
far  as  the  claims  of  France  were  concerned — remark- 
able growth  had  set  in.    By  1 774,  the  population  was 

1  "Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York." 

2  Returns  made  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 

xxxviii 


HUDSON   RIVER   MANOR    HOUSE 

1,1  The  Verplanck  House  in  FUhkiD 

I  leek  man  House 
in  Rbii 
(.;)  The  Van  Rensselaer  House  which  survived  in  Albany  until   i  I  hrcatcned 

with  demolition,  it  h.i*  been  removed  t.->  Williamstown,  M.i>-  .  and  there 
re-erected  as  a  college  fraternity  b 
(4)    l'lii.'  Van  Cortlandl  I ; 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  HUDSON 

estimated  to  have  reached  182,000,  of  whom  21,000 
were  black.  But  in  the  first  half  of  these  thirteen 
years  growth  had  been  impossible,  for  then  occurred 
the  last  and  most  destructive  of  the  French  Wars, 
when  the  map  of  the  whole  northern  frontier  of 
New  York  became  dotted  with  forts  and  camps.1 
That  region  furnished  sites  for  several  important 
battles,  Albany  becoming  the  chief  base  of  supplies, 
and  a  rendezvous  for  troops.  Niagara,  Lake  George 
and  Ticonderoga  in  those  years  witnessed  many 
engagements,  preliminary  to  that  final  combat  further 
north,  one  of  the  decisive  battles  in  the  history  of 
the  world — the  victory  of  Wolfe  over  Montcalm  at 
Quebec. 

1  A  partial  list  of  the  forts  or  fortified  towns  in  the  Province  at  that  time 
would  include  these  :  In  the  Hudson  Valley  and  on  the  lakes  north  of  it, 
Fort  George  (in  New  York  City),  Rondout,  Philipse  Castle,  Van  Cortlandt 
Manor  House,  Fort  Orange,  Fort  George  (on  Lake  George),  Fort  Edward, 
Fort  Ann,  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point;  on  the  Mohawk,  Fort  John- 
son, Fort  Hunter,  Canajoharie,  German  Flats,  Fort  Stanwix,  Fort  Bull  and 
Fort  Brewerton;  on  Lake  Ontario,  Fort  Oswego  and  Fort  Niagara;  on  the 
Susquehanna,  Cherry  Valley  and  Oghwaga. 


XXXIX 


Ill 

THE    PIONEERS    OF    THE    MOHAWK 

KNOWLEDGE  of  the  Mohawk  is  contem- 
porary with  the  founding  of  the  trading  post 
at  Albany.  Two  men,  of  whom  one  was 
named  Kleynties,  explored  the  Mohawk  in  that  year 
or  the  next  and  went  down  the  Susquehanna  from 
Otsego  Lake.1  Champlain,  for  the  French,  in  thesame 
year  (already  in  1609  he  had  explored,  almost  to  its 
head,  the  lake  called  after  him — this  was  in  the  same 
year  and  season  that  Hudson  sailed  up  the  river  bear- 
ing his  name,  the  two  men  being  only  one  hundred 
miles  apart,  and  yet  each  was  ignorant  of  the  other's 
presence),  visited  central  New  York,  coming  by  way 
of  Lake  Ontario,  and  thus  probably  reached  some  of 
the  headwaters  of  the  Mohawk. 

All  through  the  Dutch  period,  fur  traders  explored 
the  Mohawk  in  their  bark  canoes,  but  white  men 
founded  no  actual  settlements  there,  until  after  the 
English  had  established  their  supremacy.  The 
Dutch    minister   Megapolensis,  however,  had  gone 

1  On  this  expedition  was  in  part  based  the  Figurative  Map,  the  earliest  map 
of  the  interior  of  New  York.  It  shows  all  four  of  the  rivers  visited  by  Mr. 
Smith.  The  Visscher  or  Van  der  Donck  map  of  before  1656  shows  these 
rivers  with  many  additional  details. 

Xl 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

into  the  country  preaching  to  the  Indians  and  vis- 
iting their  castles.1  Meanwhile,  the  French  also  had 
come — not  as  traders  or  soldiers,  but  as  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries, displaying  a  zeal  and  devotion  "  unsur- 
passed in  the  history  of  Christianity."2 

First  among  the  Jesuits  was  Isaac  Jogues,  who 
was  brought  into  the  Mohawk  country  as  a  captive 
and  horribly  tortured  by  the  Indians,  as  he  "  fol- 
lowed them  through  the  still  November  forest,  and 
shared  their  wild  bivouac  in  the  depths  of  the  wintry 
desolation."3  Escaping  from  his  captors,  Jogues 
reached  Manhattan  Island,  and  thence  sailed  for 
France,  but  soon  returned  voluntarily  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Mohawks,  who  now  treacherously  murdered 
him.4  "  One  of  the  purest  examples  of  Roman 
Catholic  virtue  which  the  Western  world  has  seen," 
was  Jogues.5  Joseph  Bressani,  another  captive  mis- 
sionary, came  in  1644,  and  like  Jogues  was  bar- 
barously tortured.  With  only  one  finger  of  his  right 
hand  left  entire,  he  wrote  from  the  Mohawk  to  the 
general  of  his  order  in  Rome,  a  letter  stained  with 
his  own  blood,  his  ink  being  "  gunpowder  mixed 
with  water,  and  his  table  the  earth." 

The  beginnings   of  actual  settlements  date  from 

1  Megapolensis's  "  Treatise  on  the  Mohawks." 
-  Morgan's  "  League  of  the  Iroquois." 

3  Parkman's  "Jesuits  in  North  America." 

4  This  occurred  near  the  present  village  of  Auriesville,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Mohawk,  a  few  miles  west  of  Fort  Hunter. 

5  Parkman. 

Xli 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

1662,  when  a  grant  of  the  "great  flat"  at  Schenec- 
tady was  made  to  Arent  Van  Curler,  who  soon  began 
to  build  houses  and  erect  mills.  Van  Curler  had 
been  an  agent,  or  commissioner,  of  the  Van  Rens- 
selaer estate  and  acquired  much  distinction  in  the 
frontier  annals  of  his  time.  It  was  through  his  per- 
sonal efforts  that  Jogues  made  his  escape  from  cap- 
tivity. At  the  same  time  Van  Curler,  by  fair  dealing, 
secured  the  lasting  friendship  of  the  Indians.  By 
them  he  was  always  known  as  Corlear,  and  so  much 
did  they  esteem  him  that  ever  afterwards  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  Province  were  called,  not  by  their  own 
names,  but  by  his,  and  the  governor's  official  resi- 
dence to  them  was  always  "  Corlear's  house." 

For  more  than  ten  years  Schenectady  remained 
the  most  remote  settlement  on  the  Mohawk,  ranking 
as  an  outpost  on  the  New  York  frontier,  with  Mini- 
sink  as  settled  from  the  lower  Hudson.  Next  fol- 
lowed a  settlement  at  Rotterdam,  eight  miles  west  of 
Schenectady,  where  may  still  be  seen  the  Mabie 
House,  built  in  1680,  and  now  the  oldest  structure 
standing  in  the  Mohawk  Valley.1  Meanwhile,  the 
French  continued  to  assert  their  claims  to  northern 
and  western  New  York.  De  Curcelles,  with  1,300 
men,  made  an  expedition  against  the  Mohawks  in 
1665,  and  burned  five  of  their  castles,  or  palisaded 
villages,  and  La  Salle,  in  1669,  took  possession  of 
Lake   Erie    and    Lake  Ontario,  building  a  fort    at 

1W.  Max  Reid's  "The  Mohawk  Valley." 

xlii 


COLONIAL   BUILDINGS   IN'   ALBANY   AND  ON  THE   MOHAWK. 

1 1)  The  Mabie  House  near  Rotterdam,  built  in  16S0,  and  thcoldest 
house  now  standing  inthe  Mohawk  Valley. 

(a)  St.  George's  church,  5  henectady,  I  1 1    Hw  Queen  Anne  Parsonage  in  Fort  Hunter, 

built  in  1759.  built  in  i;i.v 

(4)  An  Eighteenth  Century  Street  Scene  in  Albany. 
The  first  ikrttfrom  rtctnt  fkoiogra^ks.     The  last /rum  an  old  /Hut. 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

Niagara.  Other  Frenchmen  in  1673  erected  at 
what  is  now  Kingston,  Ontario,  another  fort  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  Frontenac.  The  Eng- 
lish seemed  not  to  have  fully  understood  the  meaning 
of  these  events  until  1675,  when  Governor  Andros 
personally  ascended  the  Mohawk  to  the  site  of  Utica, 
where  he  met  the  chiefs  of  the  Iroquois  in  a  council 
extending  over  several  days,  the  result  of  which  was 
the  appointment  of  an  Indian  commission  that  was 
to  have  marked  influence  on  subsequent  events  in  the 
conflict  with  the  French. 

Fourteen  years  later,  Fort  Niagara  having  been 
destroyed,  a  memorable  invasion  of  the  valley  was 
made  by  the  French,  under  Frontenac.  Having 
reached  Schenectady  at  night  Frontenac,  without 
being  discovered,  gained  an  entrance  into  the  forti- 
fied town  then  comprising  about  forty  "  well-built 
houses."  He  "  beset  each  house,  murdered  the 
inhabitants,  and  then  burned  the  houses."  Some 
sixty  persons  were  killed,  twenty-seven  made  pris- 
oners, and  twenty-seven  others   escaped   to  Albany.1 

Important  grants  of  land,  leading  to  scandalous 
exposures  and  finally  to  a  revocation  of  the  grants, 
had  been  made  in  those  early  days  on  the  Mohawk. 
They  included  one  to  a  man  named  Penhorne  that 
was  fifty  miles  long  and  two  miles  wide,  one  to 
Captain  Evans  forty  miles  by  thirty,  and  a  still  larger 
one  to  Dr.  Dellius,  a   Dutch  minister  who   labored 

1  "  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

xliii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

among  the  Mohawks.  This  reckless  disposal  of  some 
of  the  most  valuable  lands  of  the  Province  was  made 
in  the  time  of  Governor  Fletcher. 

When  Lord  Bellomont  came  over  as  Fletcher's 
successor,  severe  representations  were  made  to  the 
home  government  as  to  what  these  grants  meant. 
Bellomont,  in  1698,  wrote  that  the  Dellius  tract  was 
reported  to  be  eighty-six  miles  long  and  twenty-five 
broad,  or  1,376,000  acres  in  extent,  "  which  is  a  pro- 
digious tract  of  country  to  grant  away  to  a  stranger 
that  has  not  a  child,  that  is  not  denizened,  and  in  a 
word  a  man  that  has  not  any  sort  of  virtue  or  merit." 
Moreover,  there  was  "not  a  Christian  inhabitant  on 
either  of  his  grants."  The  same  was  true  of  Captain 
Evans's  tract,  which  "has  but  one  house  on  it,  or 
rather  a  hut  where  a  poor  man  lives."1 

Bellomont  pointed  out  that  the  most  serious  feature 
of  these  large  grants  was  the  harm  they  would  do  to 
the  English  alliance  with  the  Indians,  since  they 
would  "constrain  and  force  the  Indians  of  the  Ma- 
quase2  nation  to  desert  this  province,  and  fly  to  the 
French."  He  added  that  "it  was  impossible  while 
things  remained  so,  that  the  country  can  ever  be  set- 
tled or  peopled,  the  grantees  being  too  few  to  do  it." 
The  Mohawks  had  been  "the  best  guard  and  security 
to  these  frontiers,"  and  if  they  were  dispossessed,  it 
would  be  difficult  for  the  English  to  resist  the  French. 

1  Letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 

2  Mohawk. 

xliv 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

Moreover,  others  of  the  Five  Nations  would  follow 
the  Mohawks,  and  New  York  was  "the  safeguard 
and  chief  defence  of  all  His  Majesty's  northern  plan- 
tations." 

After  these  patents  had  finally  been  vacated,  the 
Mohawk  territory  began  to  be  partitioned  off  into 
small  grants,  the  earliest  dating  from  1703,  but  it 
was  not  until  fifty  years  afterward,  that  the  entire 
south  side  of  the  stream  passed  into  private  hands,  the 
grants  then  numbering  twenty-eight.  Meanwhile, 
to  the  north  of  Schenectady,  and  lying  just  west  of 
the  Hudson,  had  been  made  the  large  grant  known  as 
Kayaderosseras,  which  comprised  256,000  acres,  par- 
titioned among  thirteen  persons.  It  was  settled  with 
much  difficulty.1 

In  the  first  part  of  the  new  century,  settlers  could 
do  little  toward  peopling  the  Mohawk.  Even  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht2  in  171  3  was  not  followed  by  ac- 
tive immigration,  the  government  being  slow  to  offer 
incentives.  When  Governor  Burnet  established  a 
trading  post  at  Oswego  his  act  was  heralded  as  a  sign 
of  exceptional  enterprise  by  a  royal  governor,  and 
so  indeed  it  remains  as  a  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
State.  A  new  "  thirst  for  land  "  then  set  in,  and  some 
little  progress  was  made. 

While  many  small  patents  were  being  issued,  a 
missionary  work  going  forward  in  the  valley  exercised 

1  See  a  map  of  these  grants  in  the  "  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of 
New  York." 

-  By  this  Peace  was  ended  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

xlv 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

considerable  influence  on  its  development.  Governor 
Dongan  was  the  first  among  the  royal  governors  who 
saw  the  importance  of  this  work  as  a  matter  of  state 
policy.  It  was  necessary  that  Protestants,  as  repre- 
senting English  interests,  should  counteract  the  work 
of  the  Jesuits  who  represented  the  interests  of  France. 
In  1687,  Dongan  asked  the  Indians  not  to  "receive 
any  French  priests  any  more,  having  sent  for  English 
where  you  can  be  supplied  with  all  to  content."  He 
wrote  to  the  home  government  asking  for  five  or  six 
ministers  to  live  at  the  Indian  castles  and  thus  oblige 
the  French  priests  "to  return  to  Canada,  whereby 
the  French  will  be  divested  of  their  pretences  to  the 
country,  and  then  we  shall  enjoy  that  trade  without 
any  fear  of  its  being  diverted."1  Dongan  was  soon 
afterward  recalled,  but  his  policy  had  made  some 
headway  and  in  1700  an  act  was  passed  "against 
Jesuits  and  Popish  priests." 

Protestant  missionaries  then  came  in.  At  Schen- 
ectady, in  1 70 1 ,  was  stationed  Bernardus  Freeman,  a 
Calvinist,  who  reported  that  thirty-five  Mohawks  out 
of  one  hundred  were  Christians,  and  that  he  had  trans- 
lated into  the  Mohawk  tongue  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, the  Athenasian  Creed,  and  parts  of  the  Prayer 
Book.  Then  came  Thoroughgood  Moor,  who  la- 
bored among  the  Mohawks  three  years  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  William  Andrews,  who  also  remained  three 

1  "Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

xlvi 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

years.  It  was  within  this  period  that  a  fort  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  square,  with  a  block-house  at  each 
corner,  and  a  school  house  thirty  by  twelve  feet,  was 
built  at  Fort  Hunter.  Queen  Anne  was  the  moving 
spirit  in  this  enterprise,  having  been  inspired  to  it  by 
the  visit  which  Col.  Peter  Schuyler,  formerly  Mayor 
of  Albany,  made  to  London  in  1710,  Schuyler  taking 
with  him  four  Indian  kings.  One  of  these  kings  was 
the  grandfather  of  the  Mohawk  leader  Joseph  Brant, 
who  in  Mr.  Smith's  tour  became  his  guide  on  the 
Susquehanna.1  Mr.  Andrews's  labors  came  to  a  close 
in  171 8.  Among  those  who  followed  him  were 
John  Miln  and  Henry  Barclay.  Barclay  in  1743  re- 
ported that  only  a  few  unbaptised  Mohawks  remained. 
Under  the  influence  of  these  missionaries  a  few  set- 
tlements were  founded. 

The  chief  obstacle  to  settlements,  wrote  Lieutenant 
Governor  Clarke,  had  been  "  the  massacres  in  King 
William's  War  by  the  French  and  Indians,  so  that 
very  little  progress  was  possible  until  the  Peace  of 
Utrecht."  After  that  date,  a  few  farmers  began  to 
settle  on  the  Mohawk.  The  crops  grown  by  them 
were  good  and  more  families  soon  came  in.  But 
war  again  broke  out  with  the  French  of  Canada  in 
1745,  when  a  descent  was  made  upon  Saratoga,  and 
forty  houses  were  destroyed  and  one  hundred  pris- 

1  At  Fort  Hunter  still  stands  what  is  known  as  the  Queen  Anne  Parsonage, 
which  has  come  down  from  1712. 

xlvii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

oners  captured.  Destruction  was  also  done  else- 
where on  the  frontier  until  the  more  remote  parts  of 
the  County  of  Albany  became  a  scene  of  desolation. 

In  the  midst  of  the  work  done  by  the  missionaries, 
there  arrived  in  the  valley  a  man  who  was  destined 
to  give  a  great  impetus  to  settlements  and  finally  to 
dominate  its  interests  for  quite  thirty  years.  During 
that  period  his  influence  with  the  Indians  became  so 
great  that  to  him  more  than  to  all  other  persons  is 
to  be  ascribed  the  important  aid  the  Indians  rendered 
in  the  final  overthrow  of  the  French  power.  Wil- 
liam Johnson  (afterwards  Sir  William)  came  to  the 
Mohawk  Valley  in  1738,  as  the  agent  of  his  uncle, 
Sir  Peter  Warren,  who  had  a  large  grant  west  of 
Schenectady,  and  south  of  the  Mohawk.  Johnson 
founded  a  settlement  beyond  Fort  Hunter,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  Warren's  Bush.  Here  he 
cleared  land,  built  mills,  opened  roads,  and  arranged 
to  bring  in  settlers. 

Of  this  work  we  gain  an  important  hint  in  a  lettei 
from  Lieut.  Governor  Clarke,  to  the  home  govern- 
ment, in  1736,  in  which  he  refers  to  "a  scheme  to 
settle  the  Mohawk  country  which  I  have  the  pleasure 
to  hear  from  Ireland  and  Scotland,  is  like  to  succeed." 
In  brief,  the  scheme  was  to  give  100,000  acres  to 
the  first  500  Protestant  families  that  came  from 
Europe  "in  200  acres  to  a  family,  who  being  settlers, 
would  draw  thousands  to  them."  1 

1  Letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 

xlviii 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

Johnson  remained  five  years  at  Warren's  Bush,  and 
in  that  time  sold  off  on  easy  terms  two-thirds  of  his 
uncle's  lands,  and  then,  having  obtained  for  himself 
a  tract  of  several  thousand  acres  on  the  north  side  of 
the  river,  near  Amsterdam,  removed  to  it  in  1743, 
and  there  built  a  saw  and  grist  mill,  as  well  as  the 
stone  house  called  Fort  Johnson,  which  still  stands 
there.  In  1 74 1  Johnson  had  brought  in  sixty  Scotch- 
Irish  families,  giving  them  lands  on  long  leases  at 
nominal  rent,  and  thus  had  gathered  about  him  a 
loyal  band  of  feudal  followers.1  Some  German  refu- 
gees having  come  to  New  York,  he  induced  them 
to  settle  on  the  Mohawk,  their  number  being  about 
1 60.  Meanwhile,  he  carried  on  an  active  trade  with 
Indians,  and  soon  had  established  at  Oghwaga,  on 
the  Susquehanna,  a  trading  post,  Oghwaga  then  hav- 
ing 100  Indian  lodges.  About  1745  he  imported 
from  England  a  breeding  stud  of  horses,  as  well  as 
cattle  and  sheep,  the  horses  numbering  thirty,  the 
cattle  forty,  and  the  sheep  100.  By  1746,  he  was 
shipping  flour  to  the  West  Indies,  and  was  the 
largest  slave  holder  in  the  Province,  having  sixty  or 
seventy  slaves. 

Thus  had  the  Mohawk  entered  upon  a  condition 
in  which  it  could  be  said  to  have  become  settled 
from  Schenectady  to  its  western  limits,  but  a  new 
war  broke  out  with  France,  with  dangers  to  the 
frontier  greater   than   ever  before.      In  1755,  Brad- 

iBuell's  "  Sir  William  Johnson  "  (1903). 

xlix 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

dock  was  defeated  on  the  western  borders  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  in  1756  Oswego  was  lost  to  the 
French.  Johnson  defeated  the  French  at  Lake 
George  in  1755,  but  in  1757  a  terrible  blow  fell 
upon  the  frontier  in  the  massacre  of  German  Flats, 
where  on  the  upper  Mohawk  in  1751  had  arisen  a 
village  of  sixty  dwellings  and  about  300  souls. 
Aroused  by  the  French  under  Beletre  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  forty  or  fifty  persons  were 
killed,  130  made  prisoners,  and  their  buildings 
burned.  Such  was  the  destruction  that  when  Lord 
Howe  arrived  he  found  "nothing  but  an  abandoned 
slaughter-field."  Consternation  struck  the  frontier, 
the  settlers  sending  their  goods  and  valuables  to 
Albany  and  Schenectady,  until  it  "  seemed  as  if  these 
settlements  would  be  entirely  depopulated."1  At  this 
time,  in  1758,  was  built  Fort  Stanwix  to  guard  the 
Mohawk  from  the  west,  while  Albany  became  the 
chief  rendezvous  for  troops  bound  for  that  fort  and  for 
points  in  the  Champlain  Valley. 

How  well  the  valley  had  now  become  peopled 
appears  in  a  contemporary  statement.  At  Canajo- 
harie,  where  Mr.  Smith  left  the  Mohawk  to  reach 
the  Susquehanna,  there  stood  in  1858  a  fort  100 
paces  in  size  on  each  side,  surrounded  by  a  ditch  and 
four  bastions,  with  pickets  fifteen  feet  high,  port- 
holes, and  a  stage  all   around  for  firing.     At  each 

1  Stone's  '«  Life  of  Brant." 
1 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

bastion  were  small  cannon.1  A  good  road  ran  from 
Canajoharie  to  Fort  Hunter,  twelve  leagues  away, 
there  being  i  oo  houses  on  the  road,  occupied  mainly 
by  Germans.  At  Fort  Hunter,  the  cannon  were  seven 
and  eight  pounders,  a  church  being  inside  the  fort, 
besides  thirty  cabins  for  the  Indians.  From  Fort 
Hunter  to  Schenectady,  a  distance  of  seven  leagues, 
were  twenty  or  thirty  houses,  occupied  by  Dutch 
settlers.  Schenectady  had  300  houses  surrounded  by 
pickets  with  a  fort  in  the  centre  of  the  village,  half 
masonry  and  half  timber,  with  four  bastions,  a  bat- 
tery of  cannon  on  the  ramparts,  and  capable  of 
holding  200  or  300  people.  Between  Schenectady 
and  Albany  were  two  houses. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  river,  in  the  same  year, 
from  the  mouth  of  Canada  Creek  to  Fort  Johnson, 
a  distance  of  twelve  leagues,  were  about  500  houses, 
mostly  built  of  stone,  and  occupied  by  Germans,  but 
with  no  fort  for  the  whole  distance.  From  Fort 
Johnson    to    Schenectady  were  twenty  houses. 

When  peace  was  declared  in  1763,  Acting  Gov- 
ernor Colden  issued  a  proclamation  inviting  settlers, 
and  many  came  into  the  valley.  A  temporary  reac- 
tion followed  during  the  conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  when 
many  thought  of  abandoning  their  homes.  Johnson 
then  had  1  20  families  as  tenants  on  his  new  estate, 
north  of  the   old   one,  in  what  is  now    fohnstown, 

1  "  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 
li 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

where  he  built  a  new  house,  in  which  his  beneficent 
labors  came  to  a  close  in  1774,  the  most  notable 
achievement  of  his  last  years  being  the  Treaty  of 
Fort  Stanwix. 


lii 


IV 

THE     PIONEERS    OF    THE    SUSQUEHANNA 

THE  latest  of  these  four  valleys  to  be  settled — 
latest  by  more  than  ioo  years — was  the 
Susquehanna.1  In  a  sense  the  river  was 
discovered  slightly  in  advance  of  Henry  Hudson's 
visit  to  the  Hudson  and  Delaware.  This  discovery, 
however,  related  only  to  its  mouth,  as  visited  by  Capt. 
John  Smith  in  the  summer  of  1608.  To  the  Dutch 
the  Susquehanna  was  not  known  until  Kleynties  and 
his  companion  in  16 14,  after  exploring  the  Mohawk, 
passed  southward  from  Otsego  Lake.  That  it  was 
soon  afterward  visited  by  the  early  Dutch  traders 
from  Albany  and  Schenectady,  may  be  assumed. 
These  men  are  known  to  have  penetrated  to  many 
remote  parts,  but  French  traders  may  have  antici- 
pated them.  It  is  more  likely  still  that  French  mis- 
sionaries were  contemporary  with  the  Dutch — 
Jogues,  Bruyas  and  Milet. 

Oghwaga,   on   the   Susquehanna,   was    already    an 
ancient  Indian  town — one  of  the  oldest  in  the  Prov- 

1  Susquehanna  is  an  Algonquin  word,  meaning  river  with  long  reaches. 
The  Iroquois  name  for  it  was  Ga-wa-no-wa-na-neh  Gahunda,  meaning 
great  island   river. 

liii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

ince.  Originally  founded  by  Mohawks  who  had 
had  differences  with  their  brethren  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  it  had  become  the  home  also  of  discontented 
Oneidas,  and  finally  of  Tuscaroras,  until  the  assort- 
ment of  tribes  living  there  was  important  enough 
to  acquire  a  name  of  its  own — the  Och-tagh-quan-a- 
we-croones.  Oghwaga  was  long  a  central  trading 
post  for  the  Susquehanna  and  Delaware  Rivers.  Here 
from  the  far  West  and  South,  came  Indians  to  meet 
the  Dutch.  Its  first  occupation  by  the  Mohawks  as 
a  village  has  been  placed  as  far  back  as  1550.1 

Other  Indian  villages,  but  much  smaller  ones,  and 
of  a  more  temporary  character,  lay  at  the  mouths  of 
several  streams  flowing  into  the  Susquehanna,  such 
as  the  Unadilla  and  Charlotte  Rivers,  and  the  Otego 
and  Schenevus  Creeks,  while  at  Otsego  Lake  dwelt 
Indians  who  are  referred  to  on  the  Visscher  map  as 
"  Canoo-makers."  Three  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Unadilla,  on  the  old  Indian  trail,  long  existed 
a  heap  of  field  stones,  known  to  the  white  people  as 
the  Indian  Monument — a  sort  of  cairn  that  had  grown 
up  from  the  Indian  custom  of  throwing  a  stone  upon 
the  spot  when  passing  that  way.  This  custom  was 
understood  to  be  a  form  of  recognition  by  the  Indians 
of  the  existence  of  a  supreme  being.  The  monu- 
ment disappeared  about  thirty  years  ago.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  same  river,  there  existed  in  the  time  of 
the  first  settlement  of  the  place  remains  of  an  aborig- 

1  Buell's  "Sir  William  Johnson "  (1903). 

liv 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

inal  fort,  which  Indian  tradition  said  had  been 
erected  "  five  hundred  summers  ago-"  In  comprised 
three  acres  of  land,  and  was  enclosed  by  a  ditch. 

In  Governor  Dongan's  time,  it  was  recommended 
that  traders  be  sent  out  to  form  camps  or  settlements 
on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna  as  being  nearer  to 
the  Indians  than  Albany,  and  "consequently  the  In- 
dians more  inclinable  to  go  there."  Dongan  in  1 686 
made  a  formal  request  to  the  Indians  to  see  that 
neither  French  nor  English,  "go  and  live  on  the 
Susquehanna,  nor  hunt  nor  trade  without  my  pass 
and  seal."  The  Indians  were  to  seize  any  men  who 
should  come  without  proper  passports  and  deliver 
them  in  Albany  "where  care  shall  be  taken  for 
punishing  them."1 

With  the  more  serious  aspects  that  now  arose  in 
the  trouble  with  the  French  of  Canada,  nothing  for 
more  than  a  generation  was  actually  done  to  people 
the  Susquehanna.  In  1722  Governor  Burnet  sent  out 
several  young  men  to  Oghwaga  as  traders,  and  in  1737 
Cadwallader  Colden,  in  an  official  report,  declared 
that  "goods  may  be  carried  from  this  lake  (Otsego) 
in  battoes,  or  flat  bottomed  vessels,  through  Penn- 
sylvania to  Maryland  and  Virginia  " — an  opportunity 
which  had  been  improved  as  early  as  1723,  when 
thirty  families  of  Palatine  Germans,  after  trouble  over 
their  lands  in  Schoharie,  passed  down  the  river  and 
founded  settlements  in  Pennsylvania,  thus  becoming 

1  "Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

Iv 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

among  the  advance  guard  of  the  so-called  "  Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch."  They  were  followed  in  1725  by  fifty 
other  Palatine  families,  and  in  1729  by  another  com- 
pany. Older  residents  still  living  fifty  years  ago,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Charlotte  River,  could  remember 
having  seen  standing  the  stumps  of  trees  which  these 
pioneers  had  felled  to  make  the  canoes  in  which  they 
went  down  the  Susquehanna. 

Not  until  Sir  William  Johnson's  time  was  Ogh- 
waga  permanently  occupied  by  Europeans  as  a  trading 
post.  This  occurred  in  1 74 1 ,  only  three  years  after 
Johnson  arrived  in  the  Mohawk  Valley.  Soon  after 
he  became  established  at  Oghwaga,  missionaries  from 
New  England  began  at  that  place  an  important 
work  among  the  Indians,  which  lasted  about  thirty 
years.  The  first  of  these  was  probably  John  Sergeant, 
who  came  in  1 744,  followed  soon  by  David  Brainard, 
and  he  in  turn  by  Elihu  Spencer.  In  1748  Mr. 
Spencer  made  a  translation  into  the  Mohawk  tongue 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer,1  of  which  the  first  words 
are  :  "  Soung-wan-ne-ha,  cau-roun-kyaw-ga."  From 
Spencer's  time  until  the  Revolution,  New  England 
missionaries  (except  for  a  short  interruption  due  to 
the  French  War,  a  threatened  invasion  by  Delaware 
Indians  after  the  defeat  of  Braddock)  were  constantly 
at  Oghwaga.  Among  those  men  were  Gideon 
Hawley,  Samuel  Kirkland,  Eleazer  Moseley,  Eli 
Forbes  and  Aaron  Crosby.2 

1  Printed  in  Smith's  "  History  of  New  York.  " 

2  An  account  in  detail  of  the  work  done  by  these  men  at  Oghwaga  is 
given  in  '*  The  Old  New  York  Frontier." 

lvi 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

The  white  man's  first  title  to  the  lands  on  the 
Susquehanna  was  acquired  in  1684,  when,  in  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance,  formed  at  Albany 
between  the  English  and  the  Indians,  the  Indians,  in 
a  formal  instrument  signed  and  sealed,  declared  "  we 
have  given  the  Susquehanna  river,  which  we  won 
with  the  sword,  to  this  government,  and  desire  that 
it  may  be  a  branch  of  the  Great  Tree  which  grows 
in  this  place,  the  top  of  which  reaches  the  sun."1  It 
does  not  appear  that  the  Indians  intended  this  as  a 
conveyance  of  all  right  and  title,  but  rather  as  part 
of  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  English,  they  still 
retaining  the  right  to  live  and  hunt  on   the  river. 

Contemporary  with  the  arrival  of  the  missionaries, 
was  the  granting  of  land  titles  by  the  Provincial 
government.  John  Lindesay,  in  1738,  obtained  a 
large  patent  at  the  head  of  Cherry  Valley  Creek,  and 
in  the  same  year,  Arendt  Bradt  one  on  Schenevus 
Creek,  while  on  Otsego  Lake,  a  patent  was  obtained 
by  one  Petrie  and  on  Canadurango  Lake  at  Rich- 
field another  was  secured  by  David  Schuyler.  In 
1 75 1,  Sir  William  Johnson  acquired  his  vast  tract, 
two  miles  wide,  extending  along  the  Susquehanna 
River  from  the  mouth  of  the  Charlotte  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania boundary,  being  100,000  acres,  of  which  the 
part  extending  from  the  Charlotte  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Unadilla  is  now  known  as  the  Wallace  Patent. 

With  a  few  others,  these  comprise  the  patents  that 
were  granted  on   the  upper  Susquehanna  before  the 

1  "  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York." 

lvii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

negotiation  of  the  Fort  Stanwix  Treaty  in  1768. 
They  had  been  the  means,  however,  of  planting  the 
first  permanant  settlements  on  the  headwaters  of  this 
stream.  Mr.  Lindesay,  who  had  been  Naval  Officer 
of  the  port  of  New  York,  as  well  as  Sheriff  of  Albany 
County,  came  into  the  country  in  1738,  with  his 
wife  and  his  father-in-law,  besides  a  few  servants. 
He  spent  the  winter  on  these  lands,  during  which 
his  family  was  saved  from  starvation  by  an  Indian 
from  Oghwaga  who  secured  food  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley.  Mr.  Lindesay  then  induced  a  young  clergy- 
man named  Samuel  Dunlop,  whom  he  had  known 
in  New  York,  to  come  to  the  settlement,  and  in  1741 
Mr.  Dunlop  prevailed  upon  several  Scotch-Irish 
families  from  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  to  settle  on  Mr. 
Lindesay's  patent. 

Such  were  the  beginnings  of  the  most  important 
settlement  made  before  the  Revolution,  south  of  the 
Mohawk.  It  marked  for  many  years  the  extreme 
outpost  of  civilization  on  the  frontier  of  New  York. 
What  is  more  important,  it  brought  to  the  frontier 
the  advance  guard  of  what  proved  to  be  a  consider- 
able band  of  Scotch-Irish  people,  who,  during  the 
next  thirty  years  planted  settlements  at  other  points 
on  the  Susquehanna.  When  the  Revolution  began, 
it  was  these  frontiersmen  who,  joining  with  the 
Germans  and  Dutch  of  the  Mohawk  Valley,  formed 
that  enthusiastic  and  efficient  body  known  as  the 
Tryon  County  Militia,  by  whom  was  forced  back- 
lviii 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

ward  the  rising  tide  of  Tory  sentiment,  which  other- 
wise might  have  preserved  for  the  English  cause  the 
New  York  frontier. 

Under  Mr.  Dunlop's  influence  a  log  church  was 
soon  built  in  Cherry  Valley,  but  the  settlement  grew 
slowly  in  consequence  of  the  renewal  of  troubles 
with  the  French.  Ten  years  had  passed  before  a 
second  company  of  Scotch-Irish  arrived.  They  were 
followed  in  1754  by  the  Harper  family,  including 
several  men  who  won  distinction  in  the  Border  Wars. 
In  1769  the  settlement  embraced  forty  or  fifty  fami- 
lies, who  made  up  a  thriving,  energetic  community. 

Other  but  smaller  settlements  grew  up  elsewhere 
in  this  hill  country.  At  the  foot  of  Canadurango 
Lake  in  1758  was  formed  what  was  known  as  the 
Herkimer  settlement.  About  the  same  time,  the 
TunniclifFe  family  settled  at  Richfield.  John  C. 
Hartwick  attempted  a  settlement  below  Otsego  Lake 
in  1 76 1,  but  seems  not  to  have  succeeded  until  later. 
Nicholas  Lowe  took  up  lands  in  Springfield  in  1762  ; 
Joachim  Van  Valkenberg  settled  at  the  mouth  of 
Schenevus  Creek  in  1765  ;  Percefer  Carr,  as  the  agent 
of  Col.  Edmeston,  settled  on  the  Unadilla  River  in 
1765;  and  a  few  German  families  took  up  lands  in 
Middlefield  in  1767. 

Then  came  the  Fort  Stanwix  Treaty,  after  which 
the  Susquehanna  lands  were  quicklv  portioned  off", 
and  the  way  opened  for  pioneers  whose  titles  could 
no  longer  be  questioned,  and  whose  fears  of  war  with 

lix 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

the  French  and  Indians  were  definitely  at  rest.  John 
Butler  obtained  his  grant  in  1769,  and  George  Cro- 
ghan  in  the  same  year  secured  his  tract  comprising 
100,000  acres  on  Otsego  Lake,  and  made  an  attempt 
to  found  a  settlement.  Augustine  Prevost,  Croghan's 
son-in-law,  began  a  settlement  at  the  head  of  the  lake 
in  the  same  year.  Some  Scotch-Irish  people  about 
the  same  time  pushed  further  down  the  valley,  and 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Ouleout  Creek  formed  a  settle- 
ment called  Albout,  while  at  the  mouth  of  the  Una- 
dilla,  Rev.  William  Johnston  formed  another  and 
larger  one,  which  was  in  a  thriving  state  when  the 
Border  Wars  began.  Just  south  of  the  Susquehanna 
settlements  two  New  York  merchants,  famous  in 
their  time,  William  Walton,  and  Lawrence  Kort- 
right,  secured  large  tracts,  bordering  on  the  Delaware, 
now  embracing  each  a  township,  bearing  the  Walton 
and  Kortright  names. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Smith's  visit,  there  must  have 
been  altogether  about  1 00  families  in  these  scattered 
settlements  on  the  upper  Susquehanna.  With  rare 
exceptions,  they  all  became  patriots  in  the  Revolution, 
and  in  consequence  their  homes  were  destroyed  by 
fire,  many  of  them  were  massacred,  and  those  who 
survived  either  fled  from  the  country  in  terror,  or 
served  against  the  British  in  the  Tryon  County  Militia. 


lx 


V 

THE     PIONEERS    OF    THE     DELAWARE 

BY  its  own  name,  the  Delaware  River  pro- 
claims how  all  that  once  was  Indian  in  its 
ownership  has  forever  passed  away.  For- 
merly it  was  the  home  of  Indians  who  by  the 
English  have  commonly  been  called  the  Delawares, 
but  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
river  had  altogether  ceased  to  be  theirs. 

To  the  Dutch  the  Delaware  was  first  known  as 
the  South  River,  its  present  name  having  been 
bestowed  by  the  English,  after  its  surrender  to  them 
by  the  Dutch.  The  Indians  called  it  the  Kithanne, 
meaning  the  largest  stream,  and  usually  called  them- 
selves Lenni-Lenapes,  meaning  real  men,  or,  as  some 
interpreters  say,  the  original  people  ;  but  they  also 
used  as  their  own  name  the  name  Dyo-Hens- 
Govola,  meaning  people  of  the  morning.  The 
latter  term  was  usually  employed  by  the  Senecas,  and 
perhaps  was  introduced  by  the  Senecas,  to  whom  the 
Delawares  became  subject.  By  people  of  the  morn- 
ing, reference  was  made  to  an  Eastern  origin,  the 
accepted  tradition  being  that,  at  the  time  of  the  dis- 
covery of  America  by  Columbus,  they  were  living 
on  Manhattan  Island.  Lenni-Lenape,  however,  is 
the  older  and  more  proper   name  for   these   Indians. 

lxi 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

The  Dutch  have  commonly  been  credited  with 
originating  the  word  Manhattan,  but  the  Delawares 
are  believed  themselves  to  have  employed  it,  its 
meaning  being  a  place  where  good  timber  for  bows 
and  arrows  can  be  secured,  the  hickory  trees  which 
grew  at  the  lower  end  of  the  island  having  possessed 
peculiar  strength.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that, 
long  after  the  dominion  of  these  Indians  over  Man- 
hattan Island  had  passed  away,  another  dominion 
over  it  was  acquired  by  a  political  organization  which 
derived  its  name  from  a  noted  Delaware  chief.1 

The  coming  of  white  men  to  the  Delaware  began 
as  early  as  their  coming  to  the  other  great  rivers 
visited  by  Mr.  Smith.  Henry  Hudson  discovered  the 
Delaware  in  the  same  year  in  which  he  sailed  up  the 
Hudson,  and  the  first  settlements  on  its  lower  waters 
were  made  at  about  the  same  time  as  those  on  Man- 
hattan Island  and  in  Albany.  In  1626  the  Dutch 
built  on  its  banks,  for  use  in  the  fur  trade,  Fort 
Nassau,  the  site  of  which  was  about  four  miles  below 
Camden.  This  was  the  first  settlement  made  by  Euro- 
peans on  the  Delaware  River.  Seven  years  later 
came  the  Swedes  and  Finns,  who  were  so  successful 
as  fur  traders  that   in    1 644  they  were  able  to  send 

1  Tamanend  was  the  original  form  of  the  word  Tammany,  the  chief  of  that 
name  having  died  about  1 740.  His  name  appears  on  deeds  to  Delaware  lands, 
dated  in  1683,  and  1697,  and  he  is  believed  to  have  been  buried  in  New 
Britain  Township,  Bucks  County,  Penn.  His  traditional  reputadon  is  that  of 
an  Indian  who  was  conspicuous  for  wisdom  and  benevolence.  He  appears 
in  Cooper's  "  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans." 

lxii 


ei     _ 


s. 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

two  vessels  to  Europe,  in  which  were  6,127  pack- 
ages of  beaver  skins  and  70,420  pounds  of  tobacco. 
In  consequence  of  this  rivalry,  the  Dutch,  after  what 
became  almost  armed  conflict,  forced  the  Swedes 
and  Finns  into  subjection. 

The  lands  which  these  pioneers  had  taken  up  lay 
along  Delaware  Bay  and  the  lower  waters  of  the 
river.  None  of  the  settlements  before  1664  had 
been  planted  further  north  than  Philadelphia.  Not 
until  1675  was  Burlington  founded,  and  then  only  as 
a  trading  post  bearing  the  name  New  Beverly.  Two 
years  later  Quakers  settled  there,  and  with  the  Swedes 
and  Finns  became  the  only  settlers  in  a  real  sense. 
The  Dutch  primarily  were  traders,  but  the  others 
took  to  husbandry.  The  points  which  the  Dutch 
occupied  lay  along  the  Bay,  but  the  Swedes  and 
Finns  "sought  the  freshes  of  the  river  Delaware."1 

Thus  the  Delaware  had  become  a  home  of  white 
men  half  a  century  before  William  Penn  negotiated 
his  Treaty  with  the  Indians  at  Shackamaxon,  now  a 
part  of  Philadelphia.  At  the  time  of  his  coming,  a 
few  settlements  had  been  made  further  up  the  river, 
in  what  is  now  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  which 
included  'points  perhaps  as  far  north  as  Easton.2 
Growth  was  rapid  after  Penn  made  his  treaty.  In  two 
years,  that  is  in  1684,  he  had   perhaps  six  thousand 

1  William  Penn's  "  Description  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  "  (1683). 

2  Buell  in  his  "  Life  of  Penn  "  (1904)  says  :  "There  were  about  a  thou- 
sand—some say  1,200— white  inhabitants  already  in  the  territory  granted  to 
Penn." 

Ixiii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

people  in  his  province,  of  whom  one  fourth  were  the 
original  Swedes,  Finns  and  Dutch.  Philadelphia  had 
three  hundred  houses  and  2,500  inhabitants. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  lower  eastern  shore  of  the 
Delaware,  had  been  begun  settlements  which  even- 
tually were,  to  form  parts  of  another  state.  In  1677, 
Penn  had  founded  his  colony  of  West  Jersey,  which 
in  1680  had  three  thousand  inhabitants,  who  had 
come  into  the  country  chiefly  under  his  influence. 
These  immigrants  in  the  main  settled  below  Burling- 
ton, but  not  many  years  elapsed  before  settlers  had 
gone  to  the  fertile  lands  further  north.  In  1678, 
when  the  line  was  drawn  dividing  West  Jersey 
from  East  Jersey,  the  peopling  of  the  northern  part 
of  this  valley  was  kept  well  in  mind.  In  order  that 
West  Jersey  might  include  the  entire  valley  south  of 
what  should  be  claimed  by  New  York,  the  line  was 
made  to  run  from  Little  Egg  Harbor  on  the  Atlan- 
tic coast  ten  miles  above  Atlantic  City,  in  a  straight 
line  northwest,  to  Cushietunk,  on  the  Delaware. 
Cushietunk  was  forty  miles  above  Port  Jervis,  and 
is  now  known  as  Cochecton,  a  station  on  the  main 
line  of  the  Erie  Railway.1 

For  half  a  century  afterwards  Indians  continued 
to  dwell  on  the  Delaware.  In  171 8  a  deed  of  re- 
lease to  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware2  was  given  by 

1  Parts  of  this  line  still  survive  on  the  New  Jersey  map  as  county  lines, 
notably  those  between  Ocean  and  Burlington,  Somerset  and  Hunterdon 
Counties. 

2  Now  Easton;  the  Lehigh,  which  flows  into  the  Delaware  at  this  point, 
being  then  called  the  West  Branch  of  the  Delaware. 

lxiv 


• 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

them  and  settlements  followed.  What  was  known 
as  the  Walking  Purchase  belongs  to  a  later  period. 
The  character  of  this  purchase  is  indicated  by  its  name. 
A  man  familiar  with  the  land  and  capable  of  pedes- 
trian feats  was  employed  to  secure  as  much  land  as 
possible  from  the  Indians  in  a  walk  during  the  time 
arranged  for  in  the  agreement.  Indians,  however, 
were  not  willing  to  leave  this  territory  altogether, 
and  becoming  troublesome,  the  Iroquois,  in  1746, 
were  appealed  to  for  aid  in  forcing  them  away. 
The  Delawares  being  subject  to  the  Iroquois,  were 
finally  obliged  to  depart.  They  then  formed  villages 
further  west,  mainly  on  the  Susquehanna  about 
Wyoming. 

More  than  a  thousand  Palatine  Germans,  between 
1725  and  1740,  came  to  the  Delaware  neighbor- 
hood of  which  the  "Forks"  were  the  center.  As 
early  as  1752  their  commercial  needs  had  created  a 
promising  village  of  about  forty  souls,  now  known 
as  Easton,  and  ten  years  later  its  population  had 
increased  to  250,  mostly  Germans.1  Elsewhere 
along  the  river  the  population  had  advanced 
rapidly  under  the  impetus  given  by  the  policy  of 
Penn,  whose  colony  in  1714  boasted  a  population 
of  60,000,  of  whom  more  than  one  half  had  been  ac- 
quired in  eleven  years.  People  other  than  Quakers 
came  in  large  numbers  in  171  2  and  171  3  and  were 
mainly  Germans,  Swiss,  Huguenots  and  Scotch-Irish.2 

1  H.  M.  Kieffer's  "  First  Settlers  at  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware." 
-  Buell's  "Life  of  Penn." 

lxv 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Under  other  influences  settlements  had  already 
been  founded  in  the  Port  Jervis  neighborhood.  Here, 
in  a  territory  known  as  Minisink,  which  derived 
its  name  from  the  Mimsi  Indians,1  tradition  points  to 
the  arrival  of  white  men,  in  the  period  from  1632 
to  1640.  "In  some  former  age,"  says  Nicholas 
Depuis,  a  descendant  of  an  original  settler,  "there 
came  a  company  of  miners  from  Holland,  supposed 
to  have  been  a  rich  and  great  people,  from  the  labor 
they  bestowed  in  opening  two  mines — one  on  the 
Delaware,  where  the  mountain  nearly  approaches 
the  lower  point  of  Pahaquarry  Flat;  the  other  at  the 
foot  of  some  mountain  half  way  between  Delaware 
and  Esopus,  and  in  making  the  mine  road  from  the 
Delaware  to  Esopus,  a  distance  of  100  miles."2  Other 
settlers  subsequently  came  from  Holland  by  way  of 
the  Hudson,  taking  up  large  tracts  of  lands  on  the 
Delaware,  among  them  Huguenots  who  date  from 
1690,  and  reached  Minisink  by  way  of  Kingston. 
Eventually  this  grew  to  be  a  well-established  neigh- 
borhood— certainly  the  largest  and  probably  the 
earliest  founded  in  the  American  Colonies  at  a  place 
so  remote  from  navigable  waters.  Mention  has  al- 
ready been  made  of  the  massacre  which  occurred 
there  in  1669. 

1  Thus  often  stated,  but  it  may  be  that  the  Indians  got  their  name  from 
the  place,  the  meaning  of  which  is  given  by  Beauchamp  as  land  from  which 
the  water  has  gone  out.  This  definition  pointed  to  a  tradition  that  in  this 
region  had  once  existed  a  large  lake  the  waters  of  which  were  released  when 
the  Delaware  forced  its  way  through  the  Water  Gap. 

2  Quoted  in  "Gordon's  History  of  New  Jersey"  (1834.) 

lxvi 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE 
When  this  community  spread  further  southward 
serious  trouble  arose.  The  new  County  of  Sussex  in 
New  Jersey,  had  been  formed,  with  a  line  extending 
so  far  northward,  that  it  was  claimed  to  be  an  in- 
vasion of  "the  bounds  formerly  set  for  Minisink." 
The  New  York  government  complained  that  officers 
of  Orange  County,  in  which  lay  Minisink,  had  been 
"repeatedly  beaten,  insulted,  and  prevented  from  the 
execution  of  their  respective  offices ;  taken  prisoners, 
carried  to  points  in  New  Jersey  remote  from  their 
settlements  and  thrown  into  jail."  The  people  of 
New  Jersey,  it  was  further  asserted,  "  as  often  as  they 
are  able,"  possessed  themselves  of  vacant  lands  in 
Orange  County,  and  "  frequently  beset  the  homes  of 
subjects  by  night  and  attempted  to  seize  and  take 
prisoners  of  his  majesties  subjects."  ' 

In  1753,  on  the  eve  of  the  last  French  War,  trouble 
still  existed  over  this  boundary,  being  described  as 
"great  and  continuous  quarrels  and  tumults  between 
the  persons  near  the  contested  bounds  and  bloodshed 
and  murder  were  like  to  ensue."  Invasions  had  been 
made  by  New  York  men,  "even  down  to  Minisink's 
Island,  a  place  about  forty  miles  below  North  Station 
Point."2  In  1754,  Thomas  DeKay  made  affidavit 
that  "for  some  time  before  he  left  home,  he  was  every 
night  obliged  to  nail  up  all  his  doors,  excepting  one 
at  which  he  placed  a  guard  for  fear  of  being  surprised 

1  "  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  Jersey." 

2  Cushietunk,  or  Cochecton.       Cushietunk  was  formerly  the  name  of  a 
much  larger  territory  than  it  is  now. 

lxvii 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

in  his  bed  by  the  people  of  New  Jersey,  who  have 
sundry  times  declared  they  were  resolved  to  take 
him  prisoner  and  carry  him  to  New  Jersey."1 

One  reason  for  the  activity  of  the  Delaware  In- 
dians, which  now  began  on  the  side  of  the  French, 
was  their  discontent  at  having  been  forced  away  from 
their  own  valley.  With  the  defeat  of  Braddock  in 
1755,  they  took  new  courage  to  redress  their  wrongs, 
and  were  described  as  "  roaming  among  the  passes 
of  the  mountains  unmolested,  until  between  the  Dela- 
ware and  Potomac  the  frontier  had  been  lighted 
up  with  the  blaze  of  burning  cottages."  Governor 
Belcher  of  New  Jersey  wrote  to  Governor  Morris 
of  Pennsylvania  that  the  "  enemy  have  a  few  days  ago 
burned  a  town  at  Minisink,  and  put  the  inhabitants 
to  death,"2  and  added  that  he  had  had  "  between  two 
thousand  and  three  thousand  the  week  past  marching 
and  counter-marching  toward  the  borders  of  this 
province,"  while  in  addition  "  near  two  thousand 
men  were  ranging  the  woods  and  frontiers." 

It  had  accordingly  been  resolved  to  build  forts  and 
block-houses,  "where  it  should  be  judged  most  proper 
on  the  River  Delaware,  into  which  to  distribute 
about  three  hundred  men."  In  1758,  it  was  pro- 
posed that  the  whole  frontier  "be  guarded  to  the 
length  of  90  miles  on  the  Delaware"  ;  that  there  be 
erected  on  this  line  ten  miles  apart  "ten  houses  forti- 

1  "  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  Jersey." 

2  This  report  afterwards  proved  to  be  unfounded. 

lxviii 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

fied  against  muskets,"  and  to  have  a  guard  of  twenty- 
five  men  at  each  of  these  houses,  "  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  dogs  who  are  very  useful  in  scenting  the 
track  of  the  Indians,  and  preventing  ambuscades." 
Patrols,  three  or  four  times  a  day,  were  to  pass  from 
house  to  house.1  Some  of  these  forts,  as  shown  on 
an  English  map,  compiled  twenty  years  afterward, 
were  Reading,  Van  Camp,  Walpack,  Headquarters, 
Nominack,  Shipeconk,  and  Jersey,2 

One  of  the  reports  of  desolation  wrought  by  the 
Delawares,  in  Northampton  County,  Pennsvlvania,  in 
which  lies  Easton,  named  fifty  houses  burned,  and 
one  hundred  persons  murdered  or  taken  into  cap- 
tivity. Even  the  upper  Susquehanna  was  threatened, 
Gideon  Havvley,  the  missionary  at  Oghwaga,  being 
obliged  to  retreat  to  Cherry  Valley.  Indians  who 
were  expected  to  devastate  the  whole  Pennsylvania 
frontier,  started  north  early  in  1756,  until  from 
Shamokin  to  Wyalusing,  "there  reigned  the  silence 

1  "  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  Jersey." 

2  "American  Military  Pocket  Atlas  "  (1776),  which  related  in  particular 
to  the  regions  "which  now  are,  or  probably  may  be,  the  theatre  of  war." 
This  atlas,  now  very  rare,  was  published  by  the  British  Admiralty  and  Board 
of  Trade,  having  been  "improved  from  recent  surveys."  A  copy  has  been 
kindly  lent  to  me  by  Archibald  W.  Speir  who  acquired  it  from  the  Brinley 
collection. 

One  of  the  curious  errors  in  the  atlas  is  that  all  Western  New  York,  be- 
yond the  Fort  Stanwix  Line  of  Property,  is  given  to  Pennsylvania,  thus  ignor- 
ing the  Indian  title  to  that  country,  as  confirmed  in  the  Fort  Stanwix  Treaty. 
On  this  map  the  Delaware  above  Port  Jervis  is  called  the  Great  Viskill.  Jay 
Gould,  in  his  "History  of  Delaware  County,"  says  the  West  Branch  of  the 
Delaware  in  early  times  was  called  the  Fishkill. 

lxix 


FOUR  GREAT   RIVERS 

of  the  grave."1  It  was  at  this  time  that  Major  Wells 
built  the  fort  at  Oghwaga  under  instructions  from  Sir 
William  Johnson. 

Earliest  of  the  settlements  above  Port  Jervis  was 
one  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  at  Cushietunk.  It 
lay  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  called  by  the  same 
name  and  rising  from  the  Pennsylvania  side  of  the 
river.  This  was  the  first  of  the  settlements  made  in 
Pennsylvania  by  those  Connecticut  people,  who 
claimed  to  own  the  lands  of  that  Province  between 
the  41st  and  42nd  parallels,  a  claim  out  of  which 
afterwards  grew  their  settlements  at  Wyoming. 

In  1750  men  had  been  sent  from  Connecticut  to 
view  these  lands,  and  in  1753  was  formed  the  Sus- 
quehanna Company,  comprising  840  families,  after- 
wards increased  to  1,200,  but  owing  to  the  Indian 
troubles  no  actual  settlement  was  made  at  Wyoming 
until  1762.  Meanwhile  had  been  formed  the  Dela- 
ware Company,  composed  also  of  Connecticut  peo- 
ple, and  by  them  in  1757,  after  the  company  had 
bought  the  Indian  title,  was  made  the  settlement  at 
Cushietunk,  out  of  which  five  years  later  had  grown 
a  cluster  of  rude  log  cabins,  housing  thirty  families.2 
This  settlement  encountered  opposition  from  the  pro- 
prietary or  Penn  government  of  Pennsylvania  which 
sought  to  destroy  it.  A  proclamation  of  warning 
was  issued  and  other  aggressive  steps  were  taken. 
The  Cushietunk  settlement  was  not  only  an  actual 

iKulp's  "  Families  of  the  Wyoming  Valley." 

2 Alfred  Mathews's  *«  Ohio  and  her  Western  Reserve"  (1902). 

lxx 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

part  of  the  Connecticut  invasion  of  Pennsylvania,  but 
the  pioneer  among  those  settlements.  Comtemporary 
with  it  was  a  smaller  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the 
East  Branch  of  the  Delaware  about  twenty-five  miles 
further  north.1 

In  1762  about  200  Connecticut  families  crossed 
through  the  Minisink  country  and  by  way  of  the 
Delaware  went  to  Wyoming.  The  Delaware  In- 
dians claiming  these  lands,  attacked  the  settlers,  and 
wounded  twenty  of  them.  In  1769  forty  armed 
men  were  sent  out  from  Connecticut  to  occupy  and 
defend  Wyoming  and  were  to  be  reinforced  by  200 
others.  At  this  time  was  built  what  is  known  as 
Forty  Fort,  a  name  still  retained  as  that  of  a  village 
on  the  river  opposite,  but  above,  Wilkes  Barre.  The 
forty  men  on  arrival  were  arrested  and  taken  to 
Easton,  where  they  were  thrown  into  prison,  but 
new  settlers  soon  followed  until  by  the  end  of  1770, 
about  6,000  men  altogether  had  gone  into  Wyoming 
from  Connecticut.  A  few  families  at  the  same  time 
took  up  homes  on  the  Delaware,  the  Pennsylvania 
side  of  which  between  the  forty-first  and  forty-second 
parallels  came  within  the  limits  of  the  County  of 
Westmoreland  which  Connecticut  had  formed  in 
Pennsylvania.2 

1  Now  Hancock. 

2  When  finally,  in  i  778,  these  pioneers  in  Wyoming  were  attacked  and 
many  of  them  massacred  by  Indians  and  Tories,  those  who  survived  returned 
to  Connecticut  by  way  of  the  Pocono  Mountains,  thence  crossing  the  Dela- 
ware, and  proceeding  through  the  Minisink  country.  After  they  had  passed 
through  a  region  known  as  the  Shades  of  Death  they  found  their  first  shelter 
at  Fort  Penn,  which  is  now  Stroudsburg,  near  the  Delaware  Water  Gap. 

Ixxi 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

The  Delaware  settlements  from  Cookooze  (now 
Deposit),  where,  in  1769,  were  living  the  only  Dela- 
ware Indians  inhabiting  the  stream  that  bears  their 
name,  down  to  Port  Jervis,  while  few  in  number  and 
at  best  forming  a  sparsely  settled  territory,  were  now 
able  to  produce  enough  farm  products,  in  excess  of 
their  own  needs,  to  require  shipments  to  market. 
For  this  purpose  long  flat  boats  called  Durham  boats 
were  put  into  service,  having  a  capacity  of  five  or  six 
hundred  bushels  each.  Owing  to  the  rapids  in  the 
Delaware,  and  the  shallow  water  at  many  points, 
shipments  were  made  only  in  times  of  high  water.1 

At  the  head  of  the  West  Branch  of  the  Delaware, 
a  small  settlement  had  been  begun  before  the  Revo- 
lution, at  the  place  now  known  as  Stamford,  while 
on  the  East  Branch,  at  Margaretville,  was  founded  a 
larger  one.  Here  at  Margaretville,  before  1763, 
pioneers  who  were  probably  Walloons  or  Huguenots 
had  taken  up  lands.  They  came  from  Esopus,  which 
was  distant  only  forty-five  miles,  and  occupied  the 
site  of  an  ancient  Indian  village.  Dutchmen  came  in 
later,  until  a  thriving  little  settlement  was  established 
there.  Lands  for  a  distance  of  more  than  twenty 
miles  along  the  river  passed  under  cultivation,  and 
schools  in  which  instruction  was  given  in  Dutch 
were  founded.  There  still  remains  at  Margaretville 
a  graveyard  in  which  these  pioneers  interred  their 
dead.     When   the   Revolution   began    about    thirty 

1  Gordon's  "  History  of  New  Jersey." 

lxxii 


PIONEERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

people  were  living  in  these  settlements  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  Delaware.1 

Such  in  outline  are  the  circumstances  in  which, 
when  Mr.  Smith  made  his  interesting  tour,  the  val- 
leys of  these  four  rivers  had  been  explored,  and  such 
is  the  extent  to  which  they  had  been  peopled.  All 
had  then  been  known  to  Europeans  for  about  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half, — much  longer  in  fact  than  the  period 
from  the  Revolutionary  War  down  to  our  own 
day — and  yet  they  were  everywhere  so  sparsely  set- 
tled, that  the  total  of  inhabitants  of  all  four  valleys 
probably  was  not  equal  to  the  present  population  of 
Newark. 

xJay  Gould's  "  History  of  Delaware  County." 


lxxiii 


PART  II 

A    TOUR   OF    FOUR   GREAT    RIVERS 


THE   HUDSON;     BY  SLOOP   FROM   NEW  YORK  TO 
ALBANY,   164    MILES,  MAY   5-MAY    II,   1 769 

With  a  View  to  survey  a  large  Tract  of  Land  then 
lately  purchased  from  the  Indians  I  departed  from 
Burlington  for  Otego  May  3d  1769  in  company 
with  Richd  Wells,  now  of  Philadelphia  and  the  Sur- 
veyors Joseph  Biddle  Junr  &  William  Ridgway  as 
also  John  Hicks.  We  dined  at  Crosswicks1  and 
lodged  at  Cranbury. 

May  4.  We  dined  at  Woodbridge,  called  by  the 
Way  at  Brunswick  and  viewed  the  Town  and  Mineral 
Works;  passed  thro'  Elizabeth  Town  and  lodged  at 
Newark. 

5th  In  the  Morn?  we  arrived  at  Paulus  Hook3 
Ferry,  went   over  and  dined  at  Burns's   Tavern8  in 

New 

1  At  that  time  Crosswicks  was  an  important  settlement  on  the  direct  road 
from  Burlington  to  New  York.  Twenty  years  earlier  David  Brainard,  the 
missionary,  labored  there  among  the  Indians. 

2  Now  Jersey  City. 

3  Burns's  Tavern,  or  Burns's  Coffee  House,  stood  on  the  west  side  of 
Broadway  just  north  of  the  present  Trinity  Building.  It  was  formerly  the 
DeLancey  homestead.  At  various  times  it  bore  different  names  —  including  the 
Province  Arms,  New  York  Arms,  York  Arms,  and  City  Arms.  Several 
men  had  been  its  proprietors — Burns  being  one  of  them.  Here  in  1765 
was  signed  the  Non-Importation  Agreement.  During  the  Revolution,  it  was 
a  favorite  resort  of  military  men,  being  near  the  fashionable  promenade, 
or  mall,  in  front  of  Trinity  Church.  In  1  ~93 ,  the  building  was  taken 
down,  and  on  its  site  was  erected  the  City  Hotel,  which  in  turn  long  re- 
mained a  famous  hostelry. 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

New  York  &  this  we  deemed  an  indifferent  House  ; 
here  we  saw  the  Gov"  Sir  Henry  Moore  and  other 
noted  men.  In  the  Afternoon  we  took  Passage  in  a 
sloop,  Richd  Scoonhoven,  Skipper,  for  Albany;  had 
fine  weather  and  found  it  extremely  agreeable  Sail- 
ing with  the  country  seats  of  the  Citizens  on  the 
Right  Hand,  and  the  high  Lands  of  Bergen1  on  the 
Left  and  the  Narrows  abaft.  We  sailed  about  1 3 
or  14  Miles  &  then  came  to  Anchor  for  the  Night; 
the  great  Rains  just  before  we  set  out  had  caused  the 
Water  of  the  North  River  to  tast  almost  fresh  at  this 
Place.  The  Bergen  Shore  is  high  and  Rocky  &  the 
Eastern  Side  diversified  with  Hill  and  Gully. 

6*  These  Albany  Sloops  contain  very  convenient 
Cabins.  We  eat  from  a  regular  Table  accommodated 
with  Plates,  Knives  &  Forks  &  enjoyed  our  Tea  in 
the  Afternoon.  We  had  laid  in  some  Provision  at  N. 
York  &  the  Cap*  some  more,  so  that  we  lived  very 
welL  Our  Commander  is  very  jocose  &  good  com- 
pany. About  7  oCloc  we  passed  Spite  the  Devil 
(why  so  called  I  know  not),*  or  Harlem  River,  which 
divides  the  Manhattan  Island  from  the  Connecticut. 
The  Entrance  here  appears  to  be  narrow,  bounded  on 
each  side  with  high  Land ;  Kings  Bridge  said  to  be 
about  a  Mile  from  this  Entrance  but  not  in  Sight.  The 
Bergen  Coast  continues  to  be  lined  with  lofty  Rocks, 
thinly  overspread  with  Cedars,  Spruce  &  Shrubs. 

Nearly  opposite  to  Tappan  we  took  aTurn  on  Shore 

to 

1  Now  known  as  the  Palisades. 

2  Now  written  Spuyten  Duyvil.  The  origin  of  the  term  has  been  much 
discussed.  In  a  deed  to  Van  Der  Donck  in  1646  the  Indian  name  is  given 
as  Papirinimen — "  called  by  our  people,"  adds  the  deed,  "  Spytden  Duyvel, 
in  spite  of  the  Devil." 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

to  a  Part  of  Col.  Philips's  Manor,1  from  the  Hills  of 
which  are  beautiful  Prospects.  All  the  Country  on 
both  sides  of  the  River  from  the  City  is  hilly.  The 
Manor  of  Philipsburg  according  to  our  Information, 

extends   about Miles  on   the  River   and    about 

6  Miles  back  and  is  joined  above  by  the  Manor  of 
Cortland.2  This  Morn^  the  Sloop  passed  by  Col. 
Philips's  Mansion  House  and  Gardens  situate  in  a 
pleasant  Valley  between  Highlands.  The  country 
hereabout  excels  ours  by  far  in  fine  prospects  and 
the  Trees  &  Vegetables  appear  to  be  as  forward 
almost  as  those  at  Burlington  when  we  left  it;  but  I 
conceive  that  our  countrymen  excel  the  People  herein 
cultivation.  Hardly  any  Houses  appear  on  the  Bergen 
Side  from  Paulus  Hook  to  the  Line  of  Orange  County. 
The  Tenant  for  Life  here  tells  me  he  pays  to  Col. 
Philips  only  ^7,  per  Annum  for  about  200  acres  of 
Land  &  thinks  it  an  extravagant  Rent  because,  on  his 
demise  or  Sale,  his  Son  or  Vendee  is  obliged  to  pay 
to  the  Landlord  one  Third  of  the  Value  of  the  Farm 
for  a  Renewal  of  the  Lease/  The  Skipper  gave  here 
5  coppers  for  a    Quart  of  Milk  &  M'  Wells  bought 

Ten 

1  The  Philipse  Manor  lands  comprised  *«  all  the  hunting  grounds  " 
between  Spuyten  Duyvil  and  the  Croton  River.  In  1693  parts  of  them 
were  erected  into  a  Manor  which  included  the  present  town  of  Yonkers. 
In  1682  was  built  the  Manor  House  which  still  stands  in  Yonkers  and  is  now 
the  City  Hall.  Mr.  Philipse's  possessions  included  Fredericksborough,  since 
better  known  as  Sleepy  Hollow,  above  Tarrytown,  which  with  other  lands 
comprised  240  square  miles.  Here  in  1683  ne  built  Castle  Philipse,  a 
stone  structure,  and  also  built  the  church  which  still  stands  there,  the  oldest 
religious  edifice  in  New  York  state. 

-The  first  of  the  Van  Cortlandts  was  Oliver.  It  was  his  son,  Stephanus, 
who  in  1697  had  his  landed  estates  erected  into  a  manor.  The  manor 
house  he  built  is  still  standing  in  Croton  Bay.  It  was  intended  to  serve  as  a 
fort  as  well  as  a  home,  the  walls  being  three  feet  thick  and  pierced  with 
holes  for  use  in  defense. 

5 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Ten  small  Rock  Fish  for  1 2  coppers.  The  Freight 
of  a  Bushel  of  Wheat  from  Albany  to  N  York  ac- 
cording to  our  Skipper  is  Four  Pence,  of  a  Barrel  of 
Flour  one  shilling  and  of  a  Hogshead  of  Flour  7/6  and 
he  thinks  they  have  the  same  Rates  from  Kaatskill. 
In  the  Night  we  ran  ground  among  the  Highlands 
about  50  Miles  from  N.  York  between  Orange  and 
Duchess  Counties.  The  Highlands  here  are  not  so 
lofty  as  I  expected  and  the  River  at  this  place  appears 
to  be  about  Half  a  Mile  wide. 

7th  Our  Company  went  on  Shore  up  the  Rocks  to 
a  miserable  Farm  and  House  in  Orange  &  left  with 
the  Farmer  a  Direction  for  Otego1  as  he  and  a  few  of 
his  Neighbors  seemed  desirous  to  seek  new  Habita- 
tions. He  pays  Seven  Pounds  a  Year  Rent  for  about 
1 00  acres  including  Rocks  and  Mountains.  Hudson's 
River  is  straight  to  the  Highlands,  but  thro  them  very 
crooked,  many  Strawberries  are  to  be  seen  about  the 
Banks  and  stony  Fields.  Martiler's  Rock2  stands  in  a 
part  of  the  River  which  is  exceeding  deep  with  a  bold 
Shore  encircled  on  either  Hand  by  aspiring  Moun- 
tains &  thro  them  there  is  a  View  of  a  fine  Country 
above.  Here  it  is  chiefly  that  the  sudden  Flaws 
sometimes  take  the  River  Vessels  for  which  Reason 
they  have  upright  Masts  for  the  more  expeditious 
lowering  of  the  Sails  on  any  sudden  Occasion.  Be- 
yond the  above  Rock  lies  Pollaple's  Island.3 

But 

1  The   name  of  a  creek  of  the  river  Susquehanna  whereon,  and   in   the 
vicinity,  we  afterwards  formed  a  settlement. — R.  S. 

Otego  Creek  flows  into  the  Susquehanna  from  the  north  a  few  miles  west 
of  Oneonta,  and  about  25  miles  below  Cooperstown. 

2  This  rock  no  longer  exists  there. 

3  Now  written  Polopel's  Island.  According  to  local  tradition,  it  was 
called  originally  Polly  Pell's  Island. 

6 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

But  a  few  Wheat  and  Rye  Fields  appear  along  the 
East  Side  of  the  River  from  N  York  hither  and  a 
very  few  Fields  are  ploughed  as  if  intended  for  In- 
dian Corn.  The  Lands  seem  proper  for  Sheep  or 
perhaps  (if  the  Severity  of  our  Winters  will  admit) 
for  Vineyards.  On  the  West  Side  among  the  High- 
lands are  only  a  few  Houses  seated  in  the  small  Vallies 
between  the  Mountains.  From  the  Streights  between 
Butter  Hill1  and  Broken  Neck  Hill2  &  below  them 
there  is  a  distant  Prospect  of  the  Kaatskill  Mount8, 
to  the  N.  W.  Murderers  Creek3  which  runs  by  the 
Butter  Hill,  divides  the  Counties  of  Orange  and  Ulster, 
there  are  a  few  Houses  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Creek. 
The  soil  in  these  Parts  is  broken,  stony  and  few  places 
proper  for  the  Plow.  What  grain  we  saw  growing 
was  but  indifferent. 

About  one  oCloc  we  passed  by  the  Town  of  New 
Windsor  on  the  Left,  seeming  at  a  Distance  to  consist 
of  about  50  Houses  Stores  and  Out  houses  placed 
without  any  regular  Order.  Here  end  the  High- 
lands. This  Town  has  some  Trade  and  probably 
hereafter  may  be  a  place  of  Consequence  as  the  line 
Country  of  Goshen  is  said  to  lie  back  about  1  2  or 
more  Miles.  On  the  East  Side  of  the  River  a  little 
above  Windsor  is  the  Fish  Kill  &  Landing  whence 
the  Sloops  carry  the  Produce  of  that  Side  for  Market. 
The  North  River  is  here  thought  to  be  near  Two 

Miles 

1  From  the  context  Butter  Hill  appears  to  be  Storm  King. 

2  Now  Break  Neck  Mountain. 

3  By  this  is  meant  the  stream  known  on  the  maps  as  Moodna  Creek,  which 
enters  the  Hudson  at  Cornwall.  Murderer's  Creek,  however,  still  survives 
as  a  colloquial  term  for  it.  Below  Albany,  near  Castleton,  flowing  in  from 
the  east,  there  is  another  stream  called  Murderer's  Creek. 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Miles  wide  and  the  general  range  of  the  Highlands 
by  the  Compass  as  taken  on  the  N.  Side  by  our  Sur- 
veyors is  W.  S.  W.  &  E.  N.  E. 

We  took  a  Turn  on  Shore  at  Denton's  Mill1  called 
60  Miles  from  N.  York  and  walked  above  Two  Miles 
down  the  River  to  Newbury  a  small  scattered  Village 
&  to  Denton's  Ferry.  We  found  excellent  Cyder  at 
both.  The  New  England  men  cross  here  &  here- 
abouts almost  daily  for  Susquehannah ;  their  Rout  is 
from  hence  to  the  Minisink's  accounted  only  40  Miles 
distant,  &  we  are  told  that  700  of  their  Men  are  to 
be  in  that  Country  by  the  First  of  June  next.  A 
sensible  Woman  informed  Us  that  Two  Men  of  her 
Neighborhood  have  been  severalTim.es  across  to  those 
Parts  of  Susquehannah  which  lie  in  York  Government 
&  here  the  people  say  our  Rout  by  the  Albany  is 
above  1 00  Miles  out  of  the  Way.  This  is  since  found 
to  be  true,  yet  that  Rout  is  used  because  it  is  the  only 
Waggon  Road  to  Lake  Otsego. 

The  Lands  near  Hudsons  River  now  appear  less 
Hilly  tho  not  level  &  a  few  Settlements  are  visible 
here  and  there;  the  Houses  &  Improvements  not  ex- 
traordinary. Denton's  Mill  above  mentioned  has  a 
remarkable  large  Fall  of  Water  forming  a  beautiful 
Cascade.  We  saw  several  other  Cascades  and  Rills; 
divers  Limekills  and  much  Lime  Stone  on  each 
Shore  hereaway  &  some  Appearance  of  Meadow  Land 
of  which  we  have  hitherto  seen  very  little.  Lime 
Stone,  it  is  said,  may  be  found  on  either  Side  of  the 
River  from  the  Highlands  to  Sopus.2     We  have  the 

pleasure 

1  This  point  is  now  Marlborough. 

2  Esopus  is  a  Delaware  word  meaning  river.  Other  forms  are  Seepers  and 
Sopers. 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

pleasure  of  seeing  sundry  Sloops  &  Shallops  passing 
back  and  forwards  with  the  Produce  of  the  Country 
and  Returns.  In  the  Evening  we  sailed  thro'  a  re- 
markable Undulation  of  the  Water  for  a  Mile  or  Two 
which  tossed  the  Sloop  about  much  and  made  several 
passengers  sick,  the  more  observable  as  the  Passage 
before  and  after  was  quite  smooth  &  little  Wind 
stirring  at  the  Time.  We  anchored  between  Two 
high  Shores  bespread  with  Spruce,  Chestnut  Oaks 
and  other  Trees,  very  like  the  towering  Banks  of 
Bergen. 

8th  There  is  a  high  Road  from  New  York  to 
Albany  on  both  sides  of  the  River,  but  that  on  the 
East  side  is  most  frequented;  both  Roads  have  a 
View  now  and  then  of  the  River.  Poughkeepsing  the 
County  Town  of  Duchess  stands  above  the  Fishkill  a 
little  beyond  the  rough  Water  already  noted.  We 
passed  the  Town  in  the  Night.  Slate  Stone  Rocks 
are  on  the  West  Shore  at  and  below  Little  Sopus  from 
whence  N  York  has  of  late  been  supplied.  They 
reckon  Little  Sopus  Island  to  be  Half  Way  between 
N  York  and  Albany.  The  Weather  yesterday  and 
to  day  very  warm  but  the  Mornings  and  Evenings  are 
cool.  Our  Skipper  says  there  are  at  Albany  3  1  Sloops 
all  larger  than  this,  which  carry  from  400  to  500 
Barrels  of  Flour  each,  trading  constantly  from  thence 
to  York  &  that  they  make  Eleven  or  1  2  Trips  a  year 
each.  The  general  Course  of  Hudson's  River  as 
taken  by  compass  is  N  &  by  E.  and  S.  6c  by  W.  in 
some  Places  North  and  South.  Between  the  High- 
lands and  Kaatskill  both  these  Mountains  are  in  view 
at  the  same  time. 

At  Two  ocloc  we  arrived  off  the  Walkill,  there  are 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

2  or  3  Houses  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Creek  &  a  Trade 
carried  on  in  Six  or  Seven  Sloops.  Kingston1  the 
County  Town  of  Ulster  stands  about  Two  Miles 
distant  but  not  visible  from  the  Water.  The  Kaats- 
kill  Mountains  to  the  N.  W.  appear  to  be  very  near 
tho  they  are  at  a  considerable  Distance.  The  Country 
on  both  Sides  continues  still  hilly  and  rugged  and 
what  Wheat  is  growing,  looks  much  thrown  out  and 
gullied — more  Houses  &  Improvements  shew 
themselves  along  the  Sopus  Shore  and  Opposite  being 
an  old  settled  Country. 

Our  Vessel  came  to  Anchor  a  little  above  theWal- 
kill  about  60  Miles  from  Albany.  We  went  on 
shore  to  Two  stone  Farm  Houses  on  Beekman 
Manor2  in  the  County  of  Duchess.  The  Men  were 
absent  &  the  Women  and  children  could  speak  no 
other  Language  than  Low  Dutch.  Our  Skipper  was 
Interpreter.  One  of  these  Tenants  for  Life  or  a 
very  long  Term  or  for  Lives  (uncertain  which)  pays 
20  Bushels  of  Wheat  in  Kind  for  97  Acres  of  cleared 
Land  &  Liberty  to  get  WTood  for  necessary  uses  any 
where  in  the  Manor.  Twelve  eggs  sold  here  for 
six  pence,  Butter  1411  per  pound  and  2  shad  cost  6d. 
One  woman  was  very  neat  &  the  Iron  Hoops  of  her 
Pails  scowered  bright.  The  Houses  are  mean  ;  we 
saw  one  Piece  of  Good  Meadow  which  is  scarce 
here  away.  The  Wheat  was  very  much  thrown  out, 
the  Aspect  of  the  Farms  rough  and  hilly  like  all  the 

rest 

1  This  town  has  since  been  burned  by  the  British  General  Vaughan. — R.  S. 
The  burning  of  Kingston  occurred    on    Oct.    16,    1777.  Vaughan  was 

accompanying  Gen.  Clinton  northward  to  reinforce  Burgoyne,  but  arrived 
too  late.      Burgoyne  capitulated    the  day  after  Kingston  was  burned. 

2  So  called,  although  the  Beekmans  were  not  properly  Patroons. 

IO 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

rest  and  the  soil  a  stiff  clay.  One  Woman  had 
Twelve  good  countenanced  Boys  and  Girls  all  clad 
in  Homespun  both  Linen  and  Woolen.  Here  was 
a  Two  wheeled  Plow  drawn  by  3  horses  abreast,  6^ 
a  Scythe  with  a  Short  crooked  Handle  and  a  Kind 
of  Hook  both  used  to  cut  down  Grain  for  the  Sickle 
is  not  much  known  in  Albany  County  or  in  this 
Part  of  Duchess. 

9th  We  arose  in  the  Morng  opposite  to  a  large 
Brick  House  on  the  East  Side  belonging  to  Mr  Liv- 
ingston's Father,  Robt  R.  Livingston  the  Judge,1 
in  the  Lower  Manor  of  Livingston.  Albany  Countv 
is  now  on  either  Hand,  &  sloping  Hills  here  and 
there  covered  with  Grain  like  all  the  rest  we  have 
seen,  much  thrown  out  by  the  Frost  of  last  Winter. 

Landing  on  the  West  Shore  we  found  a  Number 
of  People  fishing  with  a  Sein;  they  caught  plenty  of 
Shad  and  Herring  and  use  Canoes  altogether  having 
long,  neat  and  strong  Ropes  made  by  the  People 
themselves  of  Elm  Bark.  Here  we  saw  the  first 
Indian  a  Mohicon"  named  Hans  clad  in  no  other 
Garment  than  a  shattered  Blanket;  he  lives  near  the 
Kaatskill    6c    had    a    Scunk    Skin  for    his    Tobacco 

Pouch 

1  Robert  R.  Livingston,  the  judge,  who  had  been  an  energetic  member  of 
the  Stamp  Act  Congress,  was  described  by  Sir  Henry  Moore,  the  Governor 
of  New  York,  as  "  A  man  of  great  abilitv  and  manv  accomplishments,  and  the 
greatest  landholder,  without  any  exception,  in  New  York."  By  "greatest  " 
Sir  Henrv  may  have  meant  the  richest:  in  actual  acres  Sir  William  Johnson 
is  understood  to  have  been  the  largest.  Livingston's  daughter  married 
General  Richard  Montgomerv,  who  fell  at  Quebec,  and  lies  buried  in  St. 
Paul's  Churchyard  at  Broadway  and  Vesey  Street,  New  York  City.  His 
son,  also  Robert  R.  Livingston,  was  the  Chancellor  who  administered  the 
oath  of  office  in  Federal  Hall,  Wall  Street,  to  George  Washington  at  his 
inauguration  as  the  first  president  of  the  United  States. 

2  The  Mohicans  occupied  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Hudson. 

I  I 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Pouch.  The  Tavern  of  this  Place  is  most  wretched. 
Trees  are  out  in  Leaf.  Cattle  and  Sheep,  nothing 
different  from  ours,  are  now  feeding  on  the  Grass 
which  seems  to  be  nearly  as  forward  as  with  us  when 
we  left  Burlington,  the  Trees  quite  as  forward  &  the 
White  Pine  is  common.  One  Shad  taken  with  the 
rest  had  a  Lamprey  Eel  about  7  Inches  long  fastened 
to  his  Back. 

I  was  informed  here  by  a  person  concerned  in 
measuring  it  that  the  Distance  from  Kaatskill  Land- 
ing to  Schoharie  is  32%  Miles  reckoned  to  Capf  Eck- 
erson's  House,  a  good  Waggon  Road  and  Produce 
bro*  down  daily;  from  thence  to  Cherry  Valley  half 
a  Day's  Journey;  that  People  are  now  laying  out  a 
New  Road  from  Sopus  Kill  to  Schoharie  which  is 
supposed  to  be  about  32^3  Miles.  Sopus  Creek  is 
about  1 1  Miles  below  Kaatskill  Creek  and  a  Mile 
below  where  we  now  landed.  They  say  that  7  or 
8  Sloops  belong  to  Sopus.  The  Fish  are  the  same 
in  Hudsons  River  above  the  Salt  Water  as  in  the 
Delaware.  The  Skipper  bought  a  Parcel  of  Fish 
here  cheap.  These  Fishermen  draw  their  Nets  oftner 
than  ours  not  stopping  between  the  Draughts. 

At  3  o'Cloc  we  passed  by  the  German  Camp1  a 
small  Village  so  called  having  Two  Churches,  situated 
on  the  East  side  of  the  River,  upon  a  rising  Ground 
which  shews  the  Place  to  Advantage.  Some  distance 
further  on  the  same  Side  of  the  River  we  sailed  by 
the  Upper  Manor  House  of  Livingston.  A  Quantity 
of  low  cripple  Land   may  be  seen  on  the  opposite 

Side 

1  A  survival  of  the  unsuccessful  settlements  made  on  Livingston  Manor  by 
the  Palatine  Germans  in  17 10. 

12 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

Side  &  this  reaches  4  miles  to  the  Kaatskill  called 
36  miles  from  Albany.  Off  the  Mouth  of  this  Creek 
we  have  a  View  of  the  large  House  built  by  John 
Dyer  the  Person  who  made  the  Road  from  hence  to 
Schoharie  at  the  expence  of  ^400,  if  common  Report 
may  be  credited. 

Two  Sloops  belong  to  Kaatskill,  a  little  beyond 
the  Mouth  whereof  lies  the  large  Island  of  Vastric.1 
There  is  a  House  on  the  North  Side  of  the  Creek 
and  another  with  several  Saw  Mills  on  the  South 
Side  but  no  Town  as  we  expected.  Sloops  go  no 
further  than  Dyer  House  about  Half  a  Mile  up  the 
Creek.  The  Lands  on  both  Sides  of  Kaatskill 
belong  to  Vanberger,  Van  Vecthe,  Salisbury,  Dubois 
&  a  Man  in  York.  Their  Lands,  as  our  Skipper  says, 
extend  up  the  Creek  1 2  Miles  to  Barker  the  English 
Gentleman  his  Settlement.  The  Creek  runs  thro 
the  Kaatskill  Mount3  said  hereabouts  to  be  at  the 
Distance  of  12  or  14  Miles  from  the  North  River 
but  there  are  Falls  above  which  obstruct  the  Navi- 
gation. 

We  landed  in  the  Evening  on  the  Kaatskill  Shore 
4  Miles  above  the  Creek  but  could  gain  no  satisfac- 
tory Intelligence  only  that  the  [Dowager]  Dutchess 
of  Gordon  and  her  Husband  Col.  Staats  Long  Morris2 

were 

1  This  island  was  afterwards  called  Rogers  Island. 

2  Staats  Long  Morris  belonged  to  the  family  of  that  name  of  Morrisania, 
and  was  a  brother  of  Lewis  Morris,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  British  army,  who  had  served  in 
India,  where  he  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Pondicherry.  Having  adhered 
to  the  royal  cause  in  the  Revolution,  he  lost  title  to  his  patent  on  the  Susque- 
hanna; but  these  lands  were  granted  to  his  brothers  Lewis  and  Richard  after 
the  war,  as  compensation  for  losses  due  to  depredations  committed  by  the 
British  at  Morrisania. 

*3 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

were  just  gone  from  Dyer's  House  for  Cherry  Valley 
and  Susquehh  with  Two  Waggons;  they  went  by 
the  Way  of  Freehold  at  the  Foot  of  the  Mountains 
on  this  Side  and  so  over  them  to  Schoharie  guessed 
to  be  about  32^   Miles  as  was  said  before. 

1 0th  We  passed  by  Sunday  Islands  whereof  Scut- 
ters  Island  affords  a  good  low  Bottom  fit  for  Meadow 
and  some  of  it  improved.  Bear's  Island  is  said  to  be 
the  Beginning  of  the  Manor  of  Renslaerwic  which 
extends  on  both  Sides  of  the  River.  The  Lords  of 
Manors  are  called  by  the  common  People  Patroons. 
Bearen  Island  or  Bears  Island  just  mentioned  is 
reputed  to  be  1 2  Miles  below  Albany.  Cojemans1 
Houses  with  Two  Grist  Mills  &  "Two  Saw  Mills 
stand  a  little  above  on  the  West  Side  and  opposite  is  an 
Island  of  about  Two  Acres  covered  with  young 
Button  wood  Trees  which  Island,  our  Skipper  says, 
has  arisen  there  to  his  Knowledge  within  1 6  years 
and  since  he  has  navigated  the  River. 

More  low,  bottom  Land  is  discovered  as  we  pass 
up,  generally  covered  with  Trees ;  being  cleared  might 
be  made  good  Meadow  by  Banking  an  Improvement 
to  which  the  Inhabitants  are  altogether  Strangers. 
The  upper  End  of  Scotoc's  Island2  is  a  fine  cleared 
Bottom  not  in  Grass  but  partly  in  Wheat  &  partly 
in  Tilth.  However  there  was  one  rich  Meadow 
improved.  We  saw  the  first  Batteaux3  a  few  Miles 
below   Albany,   Canoes   being  the    Common  Craft. 

One 

1  Now  written  Coeymans. 

2  Now  Schodack,  but  originally  Shotag,  an  Indian  word,  meaning  the 
fire  place,  or  the  place  where  the  councils  are  held.  This  island  by  the 
action  of  the  water  has  since  been  divided  into  two,  which  are  known  as 
Upper  and  Lower  Schodack  Islands. 

3  "  Battoes,"  as   New  York   frontiersmen,   through    corruption,    usually 

H 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

One  Staat's  House  is  prettily  fixed  on  a  rising  Ground 
in  a  low  Island,  the  City  of  Albany  being  3  miles 
aHead.  We  discovered  for  the  First  Time  a  Spot  of 
Meadow  Ground,  ploughed  and  sowed  with  Peas  in 
the  Broad  Cast  Way ;  the  Uplands  are  now  covered 
with  Pitch  Pine  &  are  sandy  and  barren  as  the 
Desarts  of  N.  Jersey. 

As  we  approach  the  Town  the  Houses  multiply  on 
each  Shore  and  we  observe  a  person  in  the  Act  of 
sowing  Peas  upon  a  fruitful  Meadow  of  an  Island  to 
the  right.  The  Hudson  near  Albany  seems  to  be 
about  Haifa  Mile  over.  Henry  Cuyler's  Brick  House 
on  the  East  Side  about  a  mile  below  the  Town  looks 
well  &  we  descry  the  King's  stables  a  long  wooden 
Building  on  the  left  &  on  the  same  side  Philip  Schuy- 
ler's Grand  House  with  whom  at  present  resides  Col. 
Bradstreet.1  Col.  John  Van  Renslaer  has  a  good 
House  on  the  East  Side. 

At 

wrote  this  word,  were  boats  originally  brought  into  use  by  the  French,  as 
substitutes  for  the  bark  canoe  in  the  fur  trade,  canoes  being  not  strong 
enough  to  carry  heavy  loads.  They  were  usually  built  of  white  pine 
boards,  the  bottoms  flat,  and  both  ends  sharp  and  higher  than  the  centre. 
In  length  they  varied  from  20  to  25  feet.  The  width  in  the  centre  was 
three  and  one  half  feet,  and  the  depth  about  two  feet. 

1  Since  deceased,  and  Schuyler  is  now  a  Major  General  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States. — R.  S. 

Philip  Schuyler,  when  only  23  years  old,  had  served  with  Bradstreet  at 
Oswego,  and  in  1758  had  become  Bradstreet's  deputy  commissary.  In 
1  76 1  he  went  to  England  as  Bradstreet's  agent  in  settling  his  accounts  with 
the  home  government.  A  few  years  later  he  became  an  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  patriot  party  in  New  York,  during  the  controversies  that  pre- 
ceded the  Revolution. 

Major  General  John  Bradstreet,  whose  rank  had  been  won  in  the  French 
War,  had  title  to  an  extensive  tract  of  land,  some  300,000  acres,  on  the 
Susquehanna  River  near  the  mouth  of  the  Unadilla,  which,  after  his  death, 
became  a  subject  of  litigation,  unprofitable  alike  to  his  heirs  and  to  the  set- 
tlers,  many  of  whom  were  ruined  by  the  expenses  involved  in  the  contest. 

15 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

At  Half  after  i  o  oCloc  we  arrived  at  Albany1  es- 
timated to  be  164  Miles  by  Water  from  N.  York 
and  by  Land  157.  In  the  Afternoon  we  viewed  the 
Town  which  contains  according  to  several  Gen- 
tlemen residing  here,  about  500  Dwelling  Houses 
besides  Stores  and  Out  Houses.  The  Streets  are 
irregular  and  badly  laid  out,  some  paved  others  not, 
Two  or  Three  are  broad  the  rest  narrow  &  not 
straight.  Most  of  the  Buildings  are  pyramidically 
shaped  like  the  old  Dutch  Houses  in  N  York.  We 
found  Cartwright's  a  good  Tavern  tho  his  charges 
were  exorbitant  &  it  is  justly  remarked  by  Kalm2  the 
Swedish  Traveller  in  America  that  the  Townsmen 
of  Albany  in  general  sustained  the  character  of  being 
close,  mercenary  and  avaricious.  They  deem  it  60 
miles  from  Albany  to  Cherry  Valley. 

We  did  not  note  any  extraordinary  Edifices  in 
the  Town  nor  is  there  a  single  Building  facing 
Albany  on  the  other  Side  of  the  Riverc  The  Fort 
is  in  a  ruinous  neglected  Condition  and  nothing  now 
to    be    seen    of   Fort    Orange    built  by  the  Dutch 

but 

1  While  Albany  is  one  of  the  earliest  permanent  English  settlements  made 
in  the  United  States,  the  French  are  believed  to  have  had  a  trading  post 
near  there  much  earlier  still — that  is,  in  1540,  but  this  was  soon  abandoned. 

2Peter  Kalm  visited  America  in  1748-175  1.  Writing  of  the  fur  trade  at 
Albany,  he  said  :  "  Many  persons  have  assured  me  that  the  Indians  are 
frequently  cheated  in  disposing  of  their  goods,  especially  when  they  are  in 
liquor,  and  that  sometimes  they  do  not  get  one-half,  or  one-tenth,  of  the 
value  of  their  goods.  I  have  been  witness  to  several  transactions  of  this 
kind."  He  adds  that  "the  avarice  and  selfishness  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Albany"  are  well  known.  Kalm  had  in  mind  particularly  the  fur  traders. 
These  men,  as  a  class,  not  only  in  Albany  but  elsewhere,  at  that  time,  bore 
evil  reputations.  Parkman  says  many  of  them  were  "ruffians  of  the  coarsest 
stamp,  who  strove  with  each  other  in  rapacity,  violence,  and  profligacy. 
They  cheated,  cursed  and  plundered  the  Indians,  and  outraged  their 
families." 

l6 


ft?        (fan    .f^n/f 


*5f 


MAI'S   OF  ALBANY    AND  NEW   YORK.  CITY 

(i)  Albany  as  surveyed  by  Robert  Yates  al    •  .••--        From 

Volume  III  of  the  "Documentary  History  of  1  1    rl 

(:)  Bernard  Ratsen's  map  of  New  York,  drawn  in  1767.     Reproduced  from  a  copy  in   the 

I  •  ■    \   I  ibrary. 


TOUR  OF  THE  HUDSON 

but  part  of  the  Fosse  or  Ditch  which  surrounded  it. 
The  Barracks  are  built  of  Wood  and  of  ordinary 
Workmanship;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  King's 
Store  Houses.  The  Court  House  is  large  and  the 
Jail  under  it.  One  miserable  Woman  is  now  in  it 
for  cutting  the  Throat  of  her  Child  about  5  years 
old.  There  are  4  Houses  of  Worship  for  different 
Denominations  and  a  Public  Library  which  we  did 
not  visit.  Most  of  the  Houses  are  built  of  Brick  or 
faced  with  Brick.  The  Inhabitants  generally  speak 
both  Dutch  and  English  &  some  do  not  understand 
the  latter.  The  Shore  and  the  Wharves  3  in  Number 
abounded  in  Lumber.  Stephen  Van  Renslaer  the 
Patron  or  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Renslaerwick1  his 
House  stands  a  little  above  the  Town ;  he  is  a  young 
man. 

The  Site  of  the  Town  is  hilly  and  the  soil  clay 
but  round  the  place  it  is  mere  Sand  bearing  pine 
Trees  chiefly  of  the  Pitch  Pine.  Some  Lime  or 
Linden  Trees  as  well  as  other  Trees  are  planted 
before  the  Doors  as  at  N  York  and  indeed  Albany 
has  in  other  Respects  much  the  Aspect  of  that  City. 
The  Houses  are  for  the  most  Part  covered  with 
Shingles   made    of    White    Pine,    some   few    with 

red 

1  This  manor  was  founded  by  Killian  Van  Rensselaer,  a  wealthv  pearl  and 
diamond  merchant  of  Amsterdam,  Holland.  At  first  his  possessions  em- 
braced land  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  River,  from  a  point  I  2  miles 
south  of  Albany  to  Smack's  Island, "stretching  two  days  into  the  interior." 
Later  he  concluded  the  purchase  of  land  on  the  east  side,  both  north  and 
south  of  Fort  Orange,  and  reaching  "far  into  the  wilderness."  This  vast 
estate  included  the  entire  territory  now  embraced  by  Albany,  Columbia,  and 
Rensselaer  Counties,  and  was  known  as  Rcnsselaerwick.  It  was  Stephen 
Van  Rensselaer,  the  seventh  patroon,  who  in  1765,  took  down  the  old  manor 
house,  and  built  a  splendid  new  one,  which  survived  until  recent  years.  A  Kil- 
lian Van  Rensselaer  of  this  family  died  in  New  York  Citv  in  November,  1905. 

17 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

red  or  black  Tiles.  In  one  of  the  Streets  there  is  a 
Sign  of  the  Jersey  Shoe  Ware  House  being  supplied 
in  Part  with  Shoes  by  Henry  Guest  of  N.  Brunswick; 
there  is  a  Town  Cloc  which  strikes  regularly.  We 
saw  some  Indians  here  &  found  the  Weather  very 
warm  and  sultry. 


18 


II 


THE   MOHAWK:    BY  WAGON   ROAD   FROM    COHOES 
TO   CANAJOHARIE,    52   MILES,   MAY     I  I -MAY      13 

11th  Having  hired  an  open  Waggon  the  Com- 
pany quitted  Albany  early  in  the  Morn&  intending 
for  Schenectady  by  way  of  Cahoe's  Falls;  the  Fare  of 
the  Waggon  with  two  Horses  was  2of.  It  is  called 
7  miles  from  the  City  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Mohawk's 
River  &  from  thence  to  the  Cahoes  5  miles,1  from 
the  Cahoes  to  Schenectady  16  Miles.  From  Albany 
to  Schenectady  in  a  Direct  Line  along  the  usual 
Road  is  17  Miles.  The  Patroons  House  at  the  North 
End  of  Albany  is  a  large  handsome  Mansion 
with  a  good  Garden  &  Wheat  Field  that  reaches 
down  to  the  North  River.  The  Road  leads  along 
the  Bank  for  about  6  or  7  miles  from  Albany  and 
the  rich  Bottom  on  each  side  of  the  River  is  near 
Half  a  Mile  broad  consisting  of  a  blac  Mould  very 
level  &  low,  proper  for  the  best  Sort  of  Meadow, 
but  here  sown  with  Wheat  and  Peas  both  which 
look  well.  Some  of  the  Peas  are  up  and  some 
are  now   sowing.     Very  little  Indian  corn  is  raised 

in 


1The  Mohawk  has  three  mouths.  Mr.  Smith  seems  to  have  been  giving 
the  distance  from  the  southern  mouth,  but  even  that  is  less  than  five  miles 
below  Cohoes.  Cohoes  is  an  Indian  word  meaning  a  shipwrecked  canoe, 
and  refers  to  an  occurrence,  in  which  the  owners  of  a  canoe  had  a  remark- 
able escape  from  death. 

19 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

in  these  Parts  &  that  not  planted  in  Furrows  &  Rows 
but  at  random,  one  Field  excepted.  They  plant 
three  or  4  Feet  apart  in  the  Hills  &  the  same  Ground 
every  year.  The  Land  back  of  this  fertile  Space  is  cov- 
ered with  the  Pitch  and  White  Pine  chiefly  and  yet 
not  bad  Land,  and  along  the  Mohawks  River  also 
this  rich  flat  Ground  extends  from  a  Quarter  to  Half 
a  Mile  wide,  but  somewhat  narrower  on  the  upper 
parts  of  that  River. 

This  Stream  at  the  Cahoes  is  reckoned  to  be  about 
a  Quarter  of  a  Mile  in  Breadth  &  the  Falls  extend 
quite  across.  The  Heighth  of  the  Fall  is  conjectured 
by  Mr  Wells  &  the  Two  Surveyors  to  be  60  Feet  or 
upwards  but  I  have  seen  a  Copper  plate  that  calls  it 
y$,  tho'  upon  ocular  View  it  appears  less.  The  Fall 
is  almost  perpendicular,  the  whole  Body  of  the  River 
brawling  over  a  Slate  Rock.  The  Banks  of  the 
River  consist  of  this  Rock  intermixed  with  a  crumb- 
ling stone  and  are  perhaps  30  feet  higher  than  the 
Bed  of  the  River.  The  whole  looks  as  white  as 
cream  except  in  the  middle  where  the  black  Rock 
projects  a  little  and  the  water  breaks  into  many 
small  Rills.  We  descended  down  to  the  Shore  by  a 
dangerous  passage  and  ascended  by  the  same  after 
examining  every  Thing  below  particularly  some 
heavy  Stones  and  other  Indications  of  a  Copper 
Mine  being  not  far  ofF. 

Upon  quitting  this  spot  we  directed  our  Course 
for  Schenectady  and  passed  some  excellent  Farms 
and  likewise  some  poor  barren  Pine  Land;  yet  we 
saw  choice  Ground  bearing  the  Jersey  or  Pitch 
Pine  a  Thing  to  me  heretofore  unknown.  The 
Course  from  the  Cahoes  to  Schenectady  was  nearly 

20  West 


rwo  \  IEM  S  01    COHOl  S  1  VLLS 

(i)  From  .1  .Ir.iu:      by  1  Wi  Id,  the  traveler  and  author,  published  in  I 

(;)  From  a  sketch  by  Governor  I  ill,  made  some  time  befor 

and  engraved  by  William  Elliot 


TOUR  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

West.  About  six  Miles  below  that  Town  we  are 
told  that  the  rich  Bottoms  sell  at  ^"35  or  ^40  p 
Acre  while  the  Upland  will  only  fetch  ^"3  or  there- 
abouts. They  hardly  ever  plow  their  Upland.  The 
Indian  Corn  in  the  rich  Lands  is  said  to  produce 
from  40  to  60  Bushels  an  Acre  altho  every  Year 
planted  in  the  same  Earth.  By  the  Information 
recd  Stephen  Van  Renslaers  Manor  extends  on  each 
Side  of  the  North  River  1 2  Miles  below  Albany 
and  12  above  by  48  Miles  acrofs  East  &  West. 
Along  the  Road  the  Trees  are  out  in  full  Leaf  and 
the  Grass  in  the  Vales  several  Inches  high.  Clover 
and  Timothy  are  common  to  the  Country.  They 
use  wheeled  Plows  mostly  with  3  horses  abreast  & 
plow  and  harrow  sometimes  on  a  full  Trot,  a  Boy 
sitting  on  one  Horse.  The  Timber  in  these  Parts 
besides  the  Two  sorts  of  Pine  consists  of  Blac  6c 
White,  Oak,  White  and  brown  Aspen  large  and 
small,  Bilberry,  Maple  red  Oak  Hazel  Bushes,  Ash 
and  Gum  together  with  Butternut  and  Shellbark,  Hic- 
cory  in  plenty,  Elm  and  others.  The  Woods  abound 
in  Strawberries,  and  we  find  the  Apple  Trees,  Bil- 
berries, Cherries  and  some  others  in  Blolsom  as  are  the 
wild  Plums  which  are  very  common  here.  We  were 
informed  by  Dr  Stringer  at  Albany  that  the  Owners 
of  Hardenberghs  or  the  great  Patent1  sell  their 
Lands  in  Fee  at  7/6  per  Acre. 

12th 

1  Issued  to  Johanus  Hardenburg  and  others  in  1708,  with  an  additional 
tract  in  I  75  I .  This  princely  estate  comprised  altogether  something  under 
2,000,000  acres  and  to  it,  in  1844,  spread  what  was  known  as  the  anti-rent 
war,  which,  in  a  milder  form,  had  broken  out  sometime  earlier  on  the 
manors  of  the  Hudson  Valley.  Men  disguised  in  sheep  skins,  wearing  horns 
and  tails,  and  calling  themselves  Indians,  committed  many  acts  of  violence  in 

21 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

1 2th  Lodged  last  Night  at  Clench's  in  Schenec- 
tady a  very  good  Inn  and  the  Landlord'  intelligent 
and  obliging.  The  Town  according  to  our  Conjec- 
ture counts  about  300  Dwelling  Houses  besides  Out 
Houses,  standing  in/ 3  Principal  Streets  nearly  East 
and  West  ;  these  are  crossed  by  4  or  5  other  Streets. 
Few  of  the  Buildings  are  contiguous,  some  of  them 
are  constructed  in  the  old  Dutch  Taste  generally  of 
Wood  but  sometimes  of  Brick  and  there  may  be  6 
or  7  elegant  Mansions  without  including  a  large 
Dutch  Church  with  a  Town  Cloc,  a  Presbyterian 
Meeting  House  and  a  neat  English  Church  now  fin- 
ishing off,  containing  a  particular  Pew  for  Sir  WT 
Johnson1  adorned  with  a  handsome  Canopy  supported 
by  Pilasters.  There  are  no  Wharves  but  a  public 
Landing  or  Two  at  the  Ends  of  the  Streets  where 
the  Batteaux  bring  the  Peltry  and  wheat  from  above. 
These  Batteaux  which  are  built  here  are  very  large, 
each  end  sharp  so  that  they  may  be  rowed  either 
way. 

The  Townspeople  are  supplyed  altogether  with 
Beef  and  Pork  from  New  England  most  of  the 
Meadows  being  used  for  Wheat,  Peas  and  other 
Grain  ;     however     there    are  certain    choice    Grass 

Meadows 

Delaware  County,  such  as  tarring  and  feathering,  seizing  and  burning 
sheriff's  papers,  and  finally  caused  the  death  of  the  sheriff,  O.  W.  Steele. 
Companies  of  militia  were  then  sent  into  the  country,  and  Delaware  County 
was  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  insurrection,  which  after  a  time  was  sup- 
pressed. Besides  the  greater  part  of  Delaware  this  patent  comprised  a  large 
part  of  Sullivan  and  Ulster  Counties. 

1  Sir  William  Johnson,  the  most  notable  figure  in  the  Colonial  history  of 
New  York,  had  for  his  second  wife  Molly  Brant,  a  sister  of  Joseph  Brant, 
with  whom  he  lived  in  a  state  of  felicity,  she  being  commonly  known  as 
'*  The  Indian  Lady  Johnson."  In  his  will  he  described  her  as  his  '«  house- 
keeper." 

22 


TOUR  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

Meadows  about  the  Place  and  yet  at  the  End  we  en- 
tered, the  Sandy  Pine  Land  approaches  within  300 
Yards  of  the  Buildings.  The  Mohawks  River  here 
is  hardly  wider  than  Half  a  Quarter  of  a  Mile,  the 
Course  W.  S.  W.  and  E.  N.  E.  by  compass.  Fresh 
Beef  sells  at  5d  and  6d  p  pound.  We  thought  the 
Carriers  here  very  apt  to  impose  on  Strangers  ;  it  was 
with  some  Difficulty  we  engaged  an  open  Waggon 
with  Two  Horses  for  Cherry  Valley  for  Forty  Five 
Shillings;  they  told  us  the  Distance  was  50  Miles. 
The  Inhabitants  are  chiefly  Descendants  of  the  low 
Dutch,  a  few  Irish  &  not  so  many  English.  We 
did  not  observe  any  Orchards  or  Gardens  worthy  of 
Attention.  Mr  Clench  says  the  cold  here  is  not  at 
all  severe  and  the  Grass  out  earlier  in  the  Spring 
than  in  Pennsylvania  where  he  has  lived.  The  North 
River  was  open  several  Times  at  Albany  during  the 
last  Winter  j  Sloops  and  Oyster  Boats  came  up  both 
in  January  &  February.  Numbers  of  people  from 
N  England  and  elsewhere  have  travelled  this  Way 
during  the  last  Winter  &  this  Spring  looking  out  for 
settlements  ;  there  is  yet  remaining  in  Schenectady  a 
small  wooden  Fortrefs  having  4  Towers  at  the 
corners.1 

In  the  early  part  of  this  Day  we  crofsed  the  River 
at  a  Ferry  kept  in  Town  from  whence  to  Col.  Guy 
Johnsons"  son    in  Law  to  Sir    Wm  are    1 5    Miles  ; 

thence 

1  This  fort  had  been  erected  during  the  first  French  War.  From  its  earliest 
settlement  Schenectady  had  been  protected,  either  by  a  stockade  or  a  fort. 
The  word  is  Indian,  and  means  beyond  the  opening,  or  beyond  the  pineries. 

2  Col.  Guy  Johnson  was  Sir  William's  successor  as  Superintendent  of  In- 
dian affairs.  Remaining  loyal  to  the  crown,  he  retired  to  Canada,  and 
became  active  in  the  war,  his  lands  being  confiscated  afterward. 

*3 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

thence  nearly  a  Mile  to  Col.  Claus1  who  also  mar- 
ried a  Daughter  of  the  Baronet,  &  from  him  to  Sir 
John  Johnson2  a  Mile  ;  thence  to  the  Spot  which  lies 
opposite  to  Fort  Hunter3  3  miles.  Fort  Hunter4 
stands  Half  a  Mile  up  Schoharie  Creek  whose 
Waters  here  mix  with  the  Mohawks  stream,  &  at  or 
about  the  Fort  live  a  small  Party  of  Mohawk  In- 
dians5 who  subsist  by  Agriculture.  From  Fort 
Hunter  to  Major  Funda's6  are  4  Miles  and  thence  to 
Mr  Kincaid  where  we  lodged  5  miles,  the  Road  gen- 
erally lying  on  the  Eastern  Banks  of  the  River  in 
those  fertile  Wheat  Meadows  so  much  celebrated. 
Sir  Wm.  Johnson  resides  at  Johns  Town  the  Capital 
of  the  extensive  County  of  Tryon,7  which  Town  lies 

7  or  8 

1  Col.  Daniel  Claus,  when  the  war  began,  followed  the  Johnsons  to 
Canada,  and  was  active  on  the  frontier,  his  relations  to  Joseph  Brant  being 
particularly  close. 

2  Sir  John  Johnson,  the  heir  to  Sir  William's  title,  and  to  a  large  part  of 
his  estate,  during  the  Border  Wars  was  personally  the  most  active  of  all  the 
influential  loyalists  of  the  frontier.  His  Royal  Greens  were  at  the  massacre 
of  Wyoming,  and  he  led  two  expeditions  into  the  Mohawk  Valley,  effecting 
great  destruction.  The  last  is  believed  to  have  been  connected  with  Arnold's 
treason.  "Both  shores  of  the  Mohawk,"  says  Stone,  "were  lighted  up 
by  the  conflagration  of  everything  combustible."  Sir  John's  vast  landed 
property  was  confiscated  after  the  war. 

3  Tribes  Hill. 

4  Fort  Hunter  was  the  Lower  Castle  of  the  Mohawks. 

5Quere:  Whether  they  have  not  since  been  routed  by  order  of  Gen- 
eral Sullivan  ?  — R.  S. 

The  Sullivan  expedition  of  1779  encountered  no  hostile  Indians  in  the 
Mohawk  Valley  ;  nor  had  there  been  any  resident  there  since  1776,  when 
practically  all  the  Mohawks  followed  Col.  Guy  and  Sir  John  Johnson  to 
Canada. 

6  Here  now  stands  the  town  that  bears  Major  Fonda's  name. 

7 Tryon  County,  formed  in  1772  from  Albany  County,  and  taking  its 
name  from  Governor  Tryon,  but  later  called  Montgomery,  after  the  Gen- 
eral, originally  comprised  the  territory  now  embraced  in  the  Counties  of 
Otsego,  Madison,  Herkimer,  Fulton,  Hamilton,  St.  Lawrence,  Oswego 
and  Jefferson,  with  parts  of  Delaware,  Oneida  and  Schoharie. 

24 


TOUR  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

7  or  8  miles  back  from  the  River.  The  Breadth  of 
the  Flats  on  each  Side  of  the  River  from  Schenec- 
tady to  Mr  Kincaid's  maybe  from  ioo  to  300  yards, 
the  Road  very  level  and  good  ;  the  Upland  in  general 
is  no  other  than  Pine  Barrens  both  Stony  and  Hilly. 
Guy  Johnson's  House  is  of  Stone  2  stories  high, 
neat  and  handsome;  the  Garden  behind  runs  down 
to  the  River  and  is  accommodated  with  a  pretty  Pa- 
vilion erected  over  the  Water.1  Daniel  Claus's 
House  is  of  stone  and  one  story  high.  Sir  John's  is 
also  of  stone  and  contains  Two  Stories,  all  Three 
situate  at  the  Foot  of  Hills  very  steep,  barren  and 
rocky  having  narrow  Strips  of  Bottom  Ground.  Sir 
John  has  most  Meadow  and  their  Farms  are  much 
inferior  to  those  of  many  common  People  here- 
abouts. The  Country  seems  to  be  well  settled  &  we 
are  told  that  wild  Pidgeons  breed  everywhere.  Sir 
John  possesses  an  elegant  Seat  and  Gardens  called 
Fort  Johnson"  tho  there  is  now  no  other  Fortress 
than  a  wooden  Block  House  and  a  Powder  Maga- 
zine. From  Sir  Johns  to  his  father  Sir  Wms  they 
count  9  Miles. 

Fort 

1  This  House  was  afterwards,  in  the  absence  of  the  Family,  destroyed  by 
a  Flash  of  Lightning,  and  all  the  elegant  Furniture  consumed,  and  among  the 
rest,  a  curious  Map  drawn  by  the  Colonel,  and  which  we  had  viewed  with 
Pleasure,  describing  the  Bounds  and  Situation  of  the  various  Patents  for  Lands 
granted  previous  to  the  late  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  in  this  Quarter  of  the 
Government,  with  their  several  dates  ;  but  another  House,  similar  to  the 
former  was  finished,  and  it  has  been  much  defaced  since  that  Gentleman 
joined  the  British  Interest  against  his  own  Country. — R.  S. 

Col.  Johnson  also  made  a  "Map  of  the  Country  of  the  VI  Nations 
Proper,  with  Parts  of  the  Adjacent  Colonies."  It  was  engraved  and  printed 
in  1771,  dedicated  to  the  Governor,  William  Tryon.  It  may  be  found  in 
volume  IV  of  the  "  Documentary  History  of  New  York." 

-  Still  standing  between  Akin  and  Tribes  Hill,  where  it  may  be  seen  from 
a  New  York  Central  Railroad  train. 

25 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Fort  Hunter,  as  they  say  for  we  did  not  go  over, 
is  constructed  of  Wood  having  4  Bastions  and  is 
like  the  small  Fort  at  Schenectady.  We  saw  some 
of  the  young  Indian  Women  who  reside  there  & 
several  other  Parties  of  Indians  some  of  them 
painted  very  hideously  and  preposterously  in  red  and 
blac, — The  River  a  little  above  Fort  Johnson  breaks 
into  a  Number  of  Channels  forming  so  many  Islands. 
The  Timber  seen  to  day  was  much  the  same  as  yes- 
terday with  the  Addition  of  wild  Rasberries  cur- 
rants and  gooseberries.  We  observed  a  Saw  Mill  on 
the  Road  with  1 4  Saws,  a  Thing  usual  in  this  Part  of 
the  Country,  but  very  uncommon  if  not  altogether 
unknown  in  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 

At  Kincaid's  we  first  met  with  the  Maple  Sugar 
of  which  our  Hostess  manufactures  300  or  400 
Weight  per  Annum.  She  describes  the  process  as 
extremely  simple.  In  Feb.  March  or  the  Beginning 
of  April  as  the  Season  admits  they  draw  the  Liquor 
from  the  Tree  (the  Acer  Saccharinum  Foliis  quin- 
quepartito-palmatis  accuminato  dentatis  of  Linnasus's 
Species  Plantarum  pag.  1055)  by  striking  an  Ax 
into  it  or  boring  it  and  placing  proper  vessels  there- 
under to  receive  the  Juice  as  it  distils.  This  they 
boil  for  several  Hours  taking  care  to  stir  it  while  it 
cools  &  so  pour  it  into  any  Kettle  or  pot  previously 
rubbed  with  Hogs  Lard  and  then  the  Sugar  is  taken 
out  in  cakes  like  Beeswax  which  when  used  they 
cut  down  with  a  Knife.  This  Kind  has  the  Aspect 
of  coarse  brown  Muscavado  but  tastes  more  like 
coarse  loaf  sugar.  Mr?  Kincaid  says  She  sells  it 
in  Common  gd  p.  pound  and  she  has  exchanged 
2  pounds  of  this   for  3  Pounds  of  West  India  Sugar, 

26  the 


TOUR  OF  THE  MOHAWK 

the  People  esteeming  the  former  best.  They  tap 
200  Trees  for  400  Weight,  the  same  Juice  is  con- 
verted into  Molasses  and  sometimes  into  Vinegar. 
For  this  last  the  Liquor  is  half  boiled  and  worked 
with  Yeast.  They  use  our  common  Maple  also 
but  prefer  the  Sugar  Maple.  After  a  Tree  has  been 
tapt  several  years  the  Liquor  is  thought  to  grow 
stronger.  About  3  Gallons  are  sufficient  for  a  Pound 
of  Sugar  and  this  Quantity  will  ooze  from  a  Tree  in 
a  days  Time.  The  Mohawks  River  is  but  shallow  tho' 
very  rapid  and  the  Navigation  obstructed  by  Rifts 
and  the  Inhabitants  of  its  Banks  are  said  to  be  sub- 
ject to  Fevers  and  Agues.  The  Measures  introduced 
originally  by  the  Dutch  are  still  in  vogue.  A 
Morgan  of  Land  contains  somewhat  more  than  Two 
Acres  and  a  Skipple  is  about  3  Pecks.  Col.  Claus 
is  clearing  the  Hill  before  the  Door  with  an  Inten- 
tion to  plant  a  Vineyard.  A  neighbor  of  Kincaids, 
as  we  hear,  lately  sold  360  acres  of  Land  whereof 
30  were  all  Meadow,  for  the  Sum  of  j^goo.  The 
People  of  the  German  Flats  bring  their  Loads  of 
Wheat  in  Sleighs  down  to  Schenectady,  the  Distance 
being  60  Miles,  and  return  in  3  Days.  One  Hassen- 
clever  it  seems  has  formed  a  Settlem'  above  the 
German  Flats.1  I  was  informed  that  Mr  Clenchs 
Tavern  in  Schenectady  rented  for  ^100  a  year  pre- 
vious to  the  Peace  of  1763. 

1  These  places  have  been  since  destroyed  during  the  present  War. — R.  S. 

German  Flats  was  first  settled  about  forty  years  before  the  date  of  this 
journal.  In  1757,  as  already  stated  in  the  Introduction,  it  was  burned, 
and  its  people  were  massacred.  In  1  7-8  it  was  again  burned  by  Joseph 
Brant,  who  carried  away  all  the  horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  but  the  people, 
having  retired  to  the  fort  on  hearing  of  Brant's  approach,  escaped  bodily 
harm. 

27 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

i  3^  May. — Kincaids  is  not  a  public  Tavern  but 
for  our  Money  we  were  civilly  and  tolerably  enter- 
tained. The  Inns  between  [Canajoharrie]  and  Cherry 
Valley  are  few  and  wretched.  We  crossed  the  River 
from  Kincaids  to  the  South  Side  and  passed  along 
its  shores  for  8  Miles  to  Scramlins1  which  is  nearly 
opposite  to  Col.  Fry's;  we  found  the  road  passable. 
Fry's  House  of  one  story  high  is  built  of  Lime 
Stone  or  has  that  appearance,  he  has  a  Brew  House 
&  these  look  well  from  the  high  Hill  fronting 
them.2 

1  At  or  near  Canajoharie,  "Col.  Fry's"  being  Palatine  Bridge.  Cana- 
joharrie was  the  Upper  Castle  of  the  Mohawks.  The  name  came  from  a 
place  in  a  creek  where  the  water  flows  through  a  circular  gorge  and  thus 
was  called  by  the  Indians  Canajoharie,  meaning  the  pot  that  washes  itself. 
In  1677  an  Indian  village  stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Mohawk  and 
was  stockaded. 

2  Fry  was  one  of  the  Members  of  Assembly  for  Tryon  County.  He 
afterwards  removed  over  the  River  to  a  handsome  house  oddly  placed  in  a 
Hollow  just  under  the  Hill  before  mentioned,  from  the  top  of  which  I 
beheld  it  in  1773  and  again  in  1777,  and  the  view  brought  to  my  mind  the 
Idea  of  a  House  fixed  in  the  Bottom  of  a  Well. — R.  S. 


28 


Ill 


THE  SUSQUEHANNA:  BY  WAGON  ROAD  FROM  CANAJO- 
HARIE  TO  OTSEGO  LAKE;  THENCE  BY  CANOE  TO  OLD 
OGHWAGA,    1 06   MILES;   MAY    I  3-JUNE    5,    I  769 

I  3th  May.  At  Scramlins  we  turned  off  from  the 
River  pursuing  a  S.W.  Course  for  Cherry  Valley  and 
perceived  the  Soil  to  be  blac  &  deep  bearing  very  lofty 
White  Pines,  Butternut,  Beech,  Shell  Bark  Hickery 
and  many  other  sorts  of  Timber  including  several 
Trees  of  the  English  Yew  as  affirmed  by  R.  Wells  & 
John  Hicks  who  were  both  born  in  England.  The 
roads  were  miry  and  heavy.  We  saw  great  plentv 
of  Lime  Stone  &  heard  that  a  Hedge  Tavern 
Keeper1  living  5  Miles  from  Scramlins  gave  ^190 
for  200  acres  where  he  resides.  We  met,  on  their 
Return  Four  Waggons  which  had  carried  some  of 
Col.  Croghans  Goods  to  his  Seat  at  the  Foot  of 
Lake  Otsego.  The  Carriers  tell  us  they  were  paid 
30/.  a  Load  each  for  carrying  from  Scramlins  to 
Cap*  Prevost's2  who  is  now  improving  his  Estate  at 
the  Head  of  the  Lake;  the  Cap!  married  Croghan's 
Daughter. 

In 

1  So  reads  the  manuscript.  Perhaps  it  should  be  "A.  Hedge,  tavern 
keeper." 

'-'Augustine  Prevost's  military  title  had  been  acquired  in  the  British  Army. 
He  had  seen  service  in  Jamaica.  Near  this  point  there  grew  up  a  settlement 
called  Springfield,  which  was  burned  by  Brant  in  1778,  the  inhabitants  being 
all  driven  out. 

29 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

In  the  afternoon  he  arrived  at  Major  Wells,  one 
of  the  principal  Freeholders  of  Cherry  Valley  called 
i  2  Miles  from  the  Scramlins  &  50  from  Schenectady. 
Near  Cherry  valley  we  chased  an  Animal  till  he 
climbed  into  the  Top  of  a  tall  White  Pine  Tree 
where  we  shot  him.  He  proved  to  be  the  only 
Porcupine  I  ever  saw,  &  I  brought  some  of  his 
Quils  to  Burlington.  There  are  Farms  and  new 
Settlements  at  a  short  Distance  all  the  Way  from 
the  Mohawks  River,  the  Ground  in  many  places 
hilly  &  broken  but  strong  and  producing  thick  and 
tall  Woods.  In  Cherry  Valley1  there  are  about  40  or  50 
Families  mostly  of  those  called  Scotch  Irish  and  as 
many  more  in  the  vicinity  consisting  of  Germans 
and  others.  There  is  a  Pearl  Ash  Work  and  much 
Lime  Stone  in  the  Valley.  Major  Wells  has  a  choice 
Farm  with  a  large  Quantity  of  even  Meadow  on 
each  side  of  his  House.  He  has  lived  here  all  the 
Two  last  Wars  and  entirely  unmolested.2 

We  recd  Information  at  this  Place  that  there  is 
a  Rout  from  Kaatskill  across  to  Susquehannah  in  this 

Line 

1  Cherry  Valley,  so  long  the  most  important  settlement  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, and  the  parent  of  several  others,  is  now  a  small  village.  For  many 
years  after  the  Revolutionary  War  it  was  an  important  place  on  the  Great 
Western  Turnpike. 

2  The  Major  died  not  long  afterwards.  His  worthy  Widow,  Children 
and  Domestics  to  the  number  of  nine,  were  put  to  death  in  November  1778, 
and  their  home  burnt  during  the  horrid  Massacre  and  Destruction  of  C.  Valley 
by  the  Indian  Savages  and  British  Monsters,  headed  by  Butler  and  Brant. — R.  S. 

Robert  Wells  had  a  son  named  John  who  escaped.  He  was  then  at  school 
in  Schenectady.  John  Wells  was  afterwards  an  eminent  lawyer  in  New  York, 
and  became  associated  with  Alexander  Hamilton.  A  beautiful  monument 
to  his  memory  was  erected  by  his  associates  at  the  bar,  inside  of  St.  Paul's 
Church,   at  Broadway  and  Vesey  Street,  where  it  may  still  be  seen. 

Walter  N.  Butler  was  the  chief  offender  in  this  massacre.  He  seems  in- 
deed to  have  planned  it.      Brant  joined  the  expedition  with   some   personal 

3° 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

Line,  namely  from  Kaatskill  to  Akery  8  miles,  to 
Batavia  12,  to  Red  Kill  8,  (on  the  Schoharie  where 
it  is  crossed,  there  are  said  to  be  settled  Places)  from 
Red  Kill  to  a  Lake  at  the  Head  of  the  Mohawks  or 
Main  Branch  of  the  River  Delaware,  1 2  and  to 
Otego  about  16 — in  all  56  Miles.1 

14th  Being  Sunday  We  attended  Major  Wells  and 
his  Family  to  the  new  Presbyterian  Meeting  House 
which  is  large  and  quite  finished  and  heard  a  Sermon 
from  the  Rev.  M'  Delap  an  elderly  courteous  Man 
who  has  lived  in  this  settlemt  above  20  years.2 
The  Congregation  tho  not  large  made  a  respectable 
Appearance,  several  of  them  being  genteely  dressed. 
From  our  Lodgings  about  the  centre  of  the  Vallev 
down  to  the  mouth  of  Cherry  Valley  Creek  they 
reckon  12  or  14  Miles  and  in  Freshes  one  may  pass 
in  a  Canoe  from  the  House  to  Maryland.  Here  are 
3  Grist  Mills  and  one  Saw  Mill  and  divers  Carpen- 
ters  and   other    Tradesmen.     The  Soil    is  a  strong 

blac 

reluctance,  having  many  old  friends  among  the  inhabitants  of  Cherrv  Valley. 
During  the  massacre  his  influence  was  one  of  restraint.  He  afterwards  said 
the  white  men  were  **  more  savage  than  the  savages  themselves."  The  chief 
barbarities  due  to  the  Indians  were  committed  bv  the  Senecas,  under  the 
leadership  of  Hiokatoo,  whom  Brant  afterwards  said  he  could  not  control. 

1  In  April  1777  I  rode  over  the  Delaware  just  below  this  Lake,  or  Pond, 
which  serves  as  a  Reservoir  for  a  Saw  Mill,  and  the  River  is  no  other  than 
a  Brook,  not  a  Foot  deep,  and  two  or  three  vards  broad. — R.  S. 

This  reference  appears  to  be  to  Summit  Lake,  the  head  of  the  River  Char- 
lotte, not  the  Delaware.  The  Delaware  takes  its  source  from  a  spring  at 
Stamford. 

2  His  wife  was  murdered  in  the  Massacre  aforesaid. — R.  S. 

Rev.  Samuel  Dunlop  is  here  referred  to.  Surviving  the  massacre,  he  re- 
moved from  Cherry  Valley  during  the  war  and  died  elsewhere.  In  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Cherry  Valley,  in  the  summer  of  1904,  a  tablet  was 
set  up  to  his  memory.  Bishop  Potter,  whose  grandfather,  Eliphalet  Nott, 
had  been  pastor  of  the  same  church,  made  one  of  the  addresses. 

w 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

blac  Mould  with  a  large  Proportion  of  Bottom  Land. 
Their  Patent  is  only  for  9000  acres,  the  Farms 
rather  small,  Mr  Wells's  Homestead  being  but  200 
Acres.  The  Price  of  Land  uncertain  &  according 
to  the  Quality  and  Improvements.  Uncleared 
Woods  possessing  a  due  Proportion  of  low  Ground 
sell  at  least  for  10/.  an  Acre  and  cultivated  Farms 
from  40/.  to  ^5.  an  Acre.  Major  Wells  says  he 
turns  his  Horses  and  Cattle  out  to  full  Pasture  about 
the  First  of  May  sooner  or  later  as  the  Season  may 
prove  and  begins  to  fodder  about  the  Middle  of 
November.  Summer  Wheat  is  grown  as  well  as 
Winter  Wheat  and  thought  to  produce  as  much. 

From  the  Mouth  of  Cherry  Valley  Creek  for  9 
miles  upwards  on  both  Sides  the  Low  Lands  (and 
these  only)  are  said  to  belong  to  Govr  Clarke's1  Heirs 
and  some  of  the  Livingston's  who  include  the  place 
called  Skeneves's.2  Gov.  Clarkes  son  Leased  out 
Lands  in  C.  Valley  (being  concerned  in  that  Patent) 
on  these  terms  viz :  Ten  Years  for  Nothing,  for  7 
Years  afterwards  3d  Sterling  an  acre  then  ever  after 
6d  sterlg.  an  Acre — the  Landlord  to  pay  the  Quit 
Rent  to  the  Crown. 

About  9  miles  from  the  Mohawks  River  on  the 
Road  to  Cherry  Valley,  as  Report  says,  is  a  Brim- 
stone Spring3  at  the  Foot  of  the  Hill  where  we  shot 
the  Porcupine.  We 

1  George  Clarke,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  Province,  had  come  to 
America  in  Queen  Anne's  time.  He  was  related  to  the  Hydes,  who  were 
Earls  of  Clarendon.  Hyde  Hall  on  Otsego  Lake  and  the  George  Hyde 
Clarkes  who  own  it,  still  preserve  the  name  in  those  parts. 

2  Now  a  small  village  and  railroad  station,  the  name  being  written 
Schenevus. 

3  Known  afterwards  as  Sharon  Springs,  long  a  fashionable  watering-place, 
and  still  much  visited  by  invalids. 

32 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

We  find  ourselves  well  entertained  at  Mr  Wells's 
who  keeps  a  Store  where  Powder  may  be  had  for  3/. 
and  shot  for  6d  p  pound  by  the  Dozen,  Rum  sells 
from  5/  to  6/  a  Gallon,  Ozenbrigs  1 8d  a  yard  and 
at  divers  Farms  Cyder  may  be  procured  from  the 
press  at  1  2/.  p  Barrel.  A  large  Quantity  of  Flaxseed 
is  purchasable  for  4/.  a  Bushel — The  Cherry  Valley 
Men  make  all  their  own  Linen  and  some  Woolen. 
A  Fulling  Mill  is  much  wanted.  There  are  Two 
Furnaces  in  the  Pearl  Ash  Work.  The  Manager 
gives  7d  and  8d  a  Bushel  for  Ashes  and  pays  in  Goods 
sold  at  a  large  Advance.  He  has  one  Hand  to  assist 
Him.  A  Pair  of  Mens  shoes  costs  9/.  and  for  making 
only  they  ask  2/6.  There  is  a  Gun  Smith  and  a 
Blacsmith  who  have  1/.  a  pound  for  Plough  Shares 
Coulters  &c  and  iod  a  Pound  for  some  other  Work. 
The  Distance  from  Cherry  Valley  to  Cap1  Prevosts 
on  the  Head  of  Susquehannah  is  9  Miles. 

1  5th  We  are  informed  that  the  Flats  on  Schoharie1 
are  pretty  wide ;  the  Improvements  there  from 
about  12  miles  up  the  Creek  may  extend  20  Miles 
further  up;  they  carry  their  Wheat  &  Peas  to 
Albany  40  miles  and  back  again  in  Two  Days. 
Some  of  the  Farmers  are  reported  to  be  worth 
money.  It  is  asserted  and  probably  with  Truth 
that  fresh  Settlers  frequently  do  not  till  their  Land 
for  the  First  Crop  but  only  rake  the  ground  clean, 
then  sow  the  Wheat,  harrow  it  in  or  draw  a  Bush 
over  it  and  reap  good  Crops. 

Mr  Wells  would  accept  no    Recompence  for  our 

Entertainment 

Schoharie  was  already  an  old  settlement,  many  of  its  lands  having  been 
taken  up  by  Palatine  Germans  as  early  as  17  14. 

33 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Entertainment,  but  hiring  to  us  his  Cart  drawn  by 
2  Horses  we  set  out  for  the  Lake  and  passing  by  the 
Ministers  House  we  noticed  a  Pair  of  Elks  Horns 
killed  in  the  Neighborhood  2  years  ago,  the  Length 
of  each  Horn  was  4  Feet  and  each  Horn  produced 
6  points,  the  Distance  between  the  Points  of  the 
Main  Beam  3^  Feet.  We  arrived  at  Cap*  Pre- 
vosts  in  4  Hours,  the  Road  not  well  cleared  but  full 
of  Stumps  and  rugged  thro'  a  deep  blac  Mould  all 
the  Way  producing  very  tall  Beech,  Sugar  Maple, 
Linden,  Birch  and  other  Timber,  the  course  guessed 
to  be  N.  W. 

Mr  Prevost  has  built  a  Log  House  lined  with 
rough  Boards  of  one  story  on  a  Cove  which  forms 
the  Head  of  Lake  Otsego.  He  has  cleared  16  or 
1 8  acres  round  his  House  and  erected  a  Saw  Mill 
with  one  Saw,  the  Carpenters  Bill  of  which  came  to 
^30;  he  began  to  settle  only  in  May  last.1  M' 
Young  has  a  Saw  Mill  about  3  Miles  off.  The 
Cap1  treated  us  elegantly.  The  Soil  around  his 
House  is  a  fruitful  blac  Loam  on  a  stratum  of 
Gravel.  We  have  not  seen  a  Blac  Walnut  or  hardly 
a  Chesnut  Tree  since  we  left  N  York.  The  Cap1 
says  that  here  are  stones  proper  for  grindstones, 
absolutely  necessary  to  every  Settler,  &  that  he  has 
caused  one  to  be  made  and  that  two  Mill  stones 
have  been  from  the  same  Material  &  he  thinks 
there  is  a  Saltpetre  Spring2  a  few  Miles  distant.  He 
has  several  Families  seated  near  him  and  gives  Wages 
from  55/.  to  £2  a  Month.  In 

irrhis  farm  has  been  since  greatly  improved  and  was  occupied  by  Nicholas 
Lowe  from  New  York. — R.  S. 

2  This  reference  may  be  to  what  is  now  Richfield  Springs. 

34 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

In  this  Part  of  our  Journey  we  passed  thro 
Springfield  in  Waggoners  Patent,  a  German  Settle- 
ment of  10  Families  where  one  Myers  from  Philad* 
keeps  a  Tavern  and  has  established  a  Pottery;  nor  do 
they  lack  a  Blacsmith  who  is  a  good  Workman, 
there  are  1 2  more  Persons  residing  on  Godfrey 
Millers  or  Martins  Patent.  It  is  supposed  to  be  not 
more  than  5  or  6  Miles  on  a  direct  Line  from  Major 
Wells's  to  Lake  Otsego  &  9  or  10  Miles  from  Cherry 
Valley  to  a  Colony  of  Six  Families  at  West  Kills  from 
whence  to  Cobus  Kill  are  8  miles:  this  contains  6 
or  8  Families  and  from  Cobus  Kill  to  Schoharie 
they  reckon  8  miles.  Myers  of  Springfield  gave 
£ijo  for  200  Acres  about  Two  years  ago.  His 
House  is  about  5  Miles  from  Capf  Prevosts.  At 
Harpers  Saw  Mill1  in  the  Lower  part  of  Cherry 
Valley  they  now  sell  White  Pine  Boards  at  45  p 
Thousand  Feet;  the  Creek  could  be  easily  cleared 
out  and  their  saw  mill  is  about  9  miles  from  the 
Mouth. 

16th  Our  Company  was  retarded  yesterday  for 
Want  of  Craft  but  this  Morng.  we  proceeded  in  Col. 
Croghan's  Batteau,  large  and  sharp  at  each  end 
down  the  Lake  which  is  estimated  to  be  8  or  9 
Miles  long  and  from  one  to  2  miles  broad,  the  Water 
of  a  greenish  cast  denoting  probably  a  Lime  stone 
Bottom;  the  Lake  is  skirted  on  either  Side  with 
Hills  covered  by  White  Pines  and  the  Spruce  called 

Hemloc 

'The  Harper  family  who  came  to  Cherry  Valley  from  Windsor,  Conn., 
in  1  754  and  became  the  staunchest  patriots  in  the  Revolution,  obtained  in 
1770  a  patent  to  lands  on  the  River  Charlotte,  where  they  founded  the  settle- 
ment of  Harpersfield,  which  in  the  Revolution  was  destroyed  by  Joseph 
Br.int. 

35 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Hemloc  chiefly.  We  saw  a  Number  of  Ducks, 
some  Loons,  Sea  Guls  and  Whitish  coloured 
Swallows,  the  Water  very  clear  so  that  we  des- 
cried the  gravelly  Bottom  in  one  Part  10  or 
1 2  Feet  down.  The  rest  of  the  Lake  seemed  to  be 
very  deep;  very  little  low  Land  is  to  be  seen  round 
the  Lake. 

Mr  Croghan1  Deputy  to  Sir  Wm  Johnson  the 
Superintendent  for  Indian  Affairs,  is  now  here  and 
has  Carpenters  and  other  Men  at  Work  preparing  to 
build  Two  Dwelling  Houses  and  5  or  6  Out  Houses. 
His  Situation  commands  a  View  of  the  whole  Lake 
and  is  in  that  Respect  superior  to  Prevosts.  The  site 
is  a  gravelly  stiff"  Clay  covered  with  towering  white 
Pines  just  where  the  River  Susquehannah,  no  more 
than  10  or  12  yards  broad,  runs  downwards 
out    of  the    Lake    with    a  strong   Current.2     Here 

we 

1  Col.  George  Croghan,  one  of  Sir  William  Johnson's  deputy  superintendents, 
acquired  his  tract  on  Otsego  Lake,  comprising  100,000  acres,  as  compensa- 
tion for  lands  in  Pennsylvania,  which  he  lost  under  the  terms  of  the  Fort 
Stanwix  Treaty.  Near  Cherry  Valley  he  had  another  tract  of  18,000 
acres.  Croghan  mortgaged  the  Otsego  tract  to  William  Franklin,  son  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,  and  lost  it  under  foreclosure.  The  title  eventually 
passed  to  William  Cooper  and  Andrew  Craig,  both  of  Burlington,  N.  J., 
which  will  be  recalled  as  the  home  of  the  author  of  this  journal.  Mr. 
Cooper  decided  to  settle  the  tract,  and  in  1786  had  induced  several  families  to 
live  on  it.  In  1790,  he  brought  his  own  family  to  the  lake,  one  member  of 
which  was  an  infant,  destined  to  wide  literary  celebrity.  It  is  a  curious  cir- 
cumstance that  the  world  should  thus  be  indebted  to  the  Fort  Stanwix 
Treaty  for  the  "Leather  Stocking  Tales." 

2  At  this  point  in  the  lake,  and  almost  in  the  stream  itself,  stands  a  large 
boulder  known  as  Council  Rock.  Cooper  in  his  «*  Chronicles  of  Coopers- 
town,"  tells  how  the  trees  that  once  overhung  it  formed  "a  noble  and  ap- 
propriate canopy  to  a  seat  that  had  held  many  a  forest  chieftain  during  the 
long  succession  of  unknown  ages  in  which  America  and  all  it  contained  ex- 
isted apart,    as   a  world  by  itself." 

36 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

we  found  a  Body  of  Indians  mostly  from  Ahquhaga 
come  to  pay  their  Devoirs  to  the  Col;  some  of  them 
speak  a  little  English.  The  Colonels  low  Grounds 
intended  for  Meadow  lie  at  some  Distance;  he 
talks  of  opening  a  Road  from  hence  to  Brekaheen 
on  the  Schoharie  from  whence  there  is  already  a 
Waggon  Road  to  the  Kaatskill.  We  lodged  at  Col. 
Croghans  and  next  Morng.  get  all  ready  to  go  on  the 
Survey,  Rob1  Picken  our  other  Surveyor  being  gone 
down  to  wait  upon  the  Duchess  of  Gordon  &  Col. 
Morris  (whose  Tract  adjoins  to  our  Patent)  &  not 
expected  back  in  10  Days. 

17th  We  departed  at  9  oCloc  with  two  pack 
Horses  carrying  Provisions  and  Baggage  &  one  riding 
Horse  with  5  Men  as  Chain  Carriers  and  Servants  & 
Two  Mohawk  Indians  as  guides.1  In  about  4  Miles 
we  came  to  the  Oaksnee2  which  is  the  Branch  that 
leads  into    the  Susquehannah  from   Lake  Camadu- 

ragy 


1  One  of  these  was  the  notorious  sachem  Joseph  Brant,  who  has  since  fig- 
ured as  the  Commander  of  a  Bloody  Banditti. — R.  S. 

Brant's  character  was  not  so  black  as  it  has  often  been  painted,  nor  as  the 
expression  "  commander  of  a  bloody  banditti  "  would  imply.  Brant,  whose 
Indian  name  was  Thayendanegea,  and  who  is  the  most  interesting,  if  not  the 
most  famous  personage  in  connection  with  the  Revolutionary  history  of  Cen- 
tral New  York,  was  now  27  years  old.  He  was  of  distinguished  lineage, 
his  grandfather,  a  king  of  the  Mohawks,  having  been  one  of  the  five  Iroquois 
kings,  who  in  17 10  visited  Queen  Anne,  their  stay  in  London  being  de- 
scribed by  Steele  in  the  "  Tatler"  and  Addison  in  the  "Spectator."  Under 
Sir  William  Johnson's  patronage,  Brant  for  two  years  had  been  a  student  at 
Dr.  Wheelock's  school  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  where,  in  Dr.  Wheelock's 
words,  he  "much  endeared  himself  to  his  teacher."  He  was  with  Sir 
William  at  the  siege  of  Fort  Niagara  in  1759,  and  again  at  the  battle  of  Lake 
George.  In  1761  he  taught  the  Mohawk  tongue  to  Samuel  Kirkland,  the 
missionary  to  the  Indians,  who  founded  Hamilton  College. 

2  Now  known  as  Oaks  Creek. 


37 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

ragy.1  It  is  here  about  8  or  10  yards  wide  and  very 
rapid.  We  felled  a  large  Tree  to  cross  upon  and 
observed  a  rich  low  Bottom  on  each  side  of  the 
Oaksnee  but  not  wide.  On  the  Way  we  passed 
several  deep  Morasses  &  found  great  Variety  of 
Timber  mixt  with  White  Pine.  The  Waters  of  the 
Oaksnee  are  not  green  like  those  of  the  Otsego  Duct. 
At  Half  after  Two  oCloc  after  passing  along 
Hartwicks  Line2  we  arrived  at  the  Otego  before  it 
enters  our  Tract.3  We  crossed  this  Creek  and  dined 
in  the  rich  low  Bottom  appertaining  to  it,  the  Cur- 
rent at  this  Spot  does  not  exceed  5  yards  in  Width 
running  down  rapidly.  The  Soil  hither  abounds 
with  shelly  or  slate  Stone  which  for  the  most  Part 
is  covered  by  a  thin  Stratum  of  blac  Mould.  The 
Low  Land  on  Otego  is  irregular  and  unequal,  in 
some  Places  half  a  Mile  broad,  in  others  not  20 
Yards,  but  the  Glebe  is  of  the  right  kind  and  the 
Trees  strong  and  lofty.  The  Country  in  general  is 
hilly  and  full  of  fallen  timber  ;  here  are  a  variety  of 
Weeds,  good  grass  for  the  Horses  and  plenty  of  cur- 
rant and  Gooseberry  Bushes.  After  traversing  a  deep 
Hemloc  Swamp  we  encamped  in  the  Eveng.  1 1  or 
1 2  Miles  from  Croghans.  We  found  a  Beaver  Dam 
across  one  of  the  Branches  of  Otego.  Our  Indians 
in  Half  an  Hour  erected  a  House  capable  of  shel- 
tering 

1  The  lake  at  Richfield  Springs,  afterwards  called  Schuyler's  Lake,  from 
David  Schuyler,  to  whom  a  patent  of  land  in  those  parts  was  granted  in 
1755.  In  recent  years  the  Indian  name  has  been  restored,  the  accepted 
spelling  being  Canadurango. 

2  John  C.  Hartwick's  tract  is  now  a  township,  bearing  Hartwick's  name. 

3  By  this  the  author  means  that  they  reached  the  upper  waters  of  the  creek, 
not  the  point  where  it  enters  the  Susquehanna. 

38 


JOSEPH   BRANT   (THAYENDANEGEA 

lM  A  PORTRAI1    MAD]    IN   LONDON  FROM  LIFE   DURING  BRANT'S  VISIT  IN   1776, 
THE  SAME    BEING  AN  ORIGINAL  DRAWING  FORM]  KI  V  IN  THE 
1    JAMES  BOSWE1  I 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

tering  us  from  the  wet  for  it  rained  most  of  the  Day 
and  Night  succeeding.  They  place  4  crotched 
stakes  in  the  Earth,  the  Two  front  ones  being  tallest. 
On  these  are  rested  poles  which  are  crossed  by  other 
poles  and  these  are  covered  with  wide  hemloc  Bark . 
a  large  chearful  Fire  being  soon  raised  in  the  Front, 
they  compleated  our  Kitchin  and  Bed  Chamber 
wherein  after  broiling  Salt  Pork  for  supper  we 
rested  prepared  by  Fatigue  very  comfortably. 

18th  About  Six  oCloc  we  moved  from  our  En- 
campmc. ;  this  strong  uneven  Land  is  covered  with 
Beech,  Sugar  Maple,  Ash  and  various  other  sorts  of 
Wood,  the  surface  covered  here  and  there  with 
shelly  stones,  &  at  yz  after  1 1  oCloc  we  hit  upon 
the  East  and  West  Line  between  Croghans  and  our 
Otego  Tract  about  3  Miles  from  the  N.  W.  Corner. 
This  morning  we  surmounted  sundry  high  Hills  and 
came  over  5  or  6  Branches  of  the  Otego  and  had 
the  satisfaction  of  dining  on  our  own  Territory 
which  is  here  low  and  tolerably  level  but  in  most 
places  stony  under  a  surface  of  blac  Mould.  Hith- 
erto we  have  seen  no  Snakes  or  Wild  Beasts  nor 
have  we  killed  any  Thing  but  the  Porcupine.  At 
y2  after  Two  oCloc  we  crossed  a  Brook  of  the 
Unadella1   and  a   little    beyond   it  in   the  middle  of 

one 

1  Since  named  by  Robert  Lettis  Hooper  Burlington  Creek.  Neither  the 
Unadella  or  the  Otego  are  marked  on  Evans's  or  any  other  map  to  mv  knowl- 
edge.—R.  S. 

Probably  the  Unadilla  River  was  not  known  by  its  present  name  when  these 
maps  were  drawn.  Unadilla  at  first  was  merely  a  term  for  the  place  where 
this  stream  joins  the  Susquehanna,  its  meaning  being  place  of  meeting,  or  con- 
fluence. Here  three  counties  now  come  together — Otsego,  Chenango,  and 
Delaware.  In  Delaware  County  just  above  the  confluence,  lies  the  village  of 
Sidney.      Unadilla  has  since   become,  not   only   the  name  of  the  river  here 

39 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

one  of  the  finest  Bottoms  in  the  World  stands  the 
Corner  to  this  and  the  Otsego  or  Croghans  Patent, 
a  Butternut  marked 

"G:   C:   C:   r:—?68" 

The  Letters  stand  for  George  Croghan  and  his  sur- 
veyor Christopher  Yates. 

The  Forest  in  this  Bottom  is  composed  of  Birch, 
Sugar  Maple,  Wild  cherry,  Blac  Thorn,  Butternut, 
Elm.,  white  and  red,  Iron  Wood  &  many  more  with 
a  vast  Variety  of  rank  Weeds  and  Grass  above  a 
Foot  high.  The  Place  may  be  easily  cleared.1  The 
Breadth  of  this  Bottom  above  a  Quarter  of  a  Mile 
and  the  Length  farther  than  could  be  seen.  We  set 
a  South  Course  by  the  Compass  &  found  that  a  large 
Part  of  the  Bottom  was  without  our  Tract.  From 
the  above  Butternut  Corner  Messrs  Biddle  and  Ridg- 
way  began  the  Survey,  running  down  this  Afternoon 
3  Miles  due  East.  The  Timber  along  this  Line 
hither  is  chiefly  tall  Beech,  Sugar  Maple,  and  Hem- 
loc;  not  an  Oak  or  Hiccory  was  seen.  Besides  Bur- 
lington Creek  which  I  waded  thro  being  above- the 

Knee 

tributary  to  the  Susquehanna,  but  of  the  township  in  Otsego  County  which 
lies  east  of  it  in  the  corner  of  that  county  formed  by  the  two  streams,  and 
also  the  name  of  the  village  on  the  Susquehanna  five  miles  above  Sidney. 
Unadilla  Village  gained  importance  early  in  the  1 9th  century  as  the  terminus 
of  the  Catskill  and  Susquehanna  Turnpike,  then  one  of  the  great  highways, 
leading  into  Central  New  York.  Likewise  Otego  was  originally  a  name  for 
the  mouth  of  the  creek  only.  While  the  creek  now  bears  the  name,  the 
settlement  called  Otego  that  grew  up  after  the  Revolution  is  situated 
several  miles  distant  on  the  Susquehanna. 

1  Some  years  after  this  Benjamin  Lull,  perfected  choice  meadows  round 
this  corner. — R.  S. 

Mr.  Lull,  with  several  grown-up  sons,  came  into   the  country  in  1777. 

40 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

Knee  and  about  8  or  10  yards  wide  running  with  a 
strong  Current  over  a  stony  Bottom,  the  soil  a  shelly 
stone  slightly  covered  with  black  mold.  We  passed 
several  Rivulets  &  noticed  divers  good  seats  for 
Mills.  There  was  one  long  Hill  of  gradual  As- 
cent &  others  smaller  but  the  ground  more  level 
than  any  yet  observed.  We  passed  thro  a  large  nat- 
ural Nursery  of  Cherry  Trees  supposed  by  some  of 
the  Company  to  be  the  Blac  Mazard  Cherry.  The 
Water  is  good  and  many  living  Springs. 

1 9th  It  rained  all  Night  and  this  Morning  &  we 
experienced,  now  and  often,  that  our  temporary 
Bark  Habitations  can  preserve  us  dry.  The  lively 
Note  of  the  Swamp  Robin,  the  Red  Bird  and  other 
Birds  from  the  earliest  Dawn  is  entertaining.  The 
Trees  are  out  in  compleat  Leaf  every  where.  We  lay 
by  all  Day  being  rainy.  At  the  Pearl  Ash  Work  in 
Cherry  Valley,  we  are  informed  two  men  make 
above  a  Ton  per  Month.  They  receive  £^0  p  Ton 
delivered  at  the  Mohawks  River  a  Carriage  of  12 
Miles  and  are  paid  in  goods. 

20th  We  came  3  Miles  before  Dinner  thro  a 
good  Soil  tolerably  level  and  near  Half  the  Way 
is  low  ground  proper  for  Meadow,  well  timbered 
with  Beech,  Sugar  Maple  Wild  Cherry,  Ash,  a  few 
blac  Oaks  and  several  Groves  of  Hemloc,  but  no 
Hiccory  or  Pine.  Some  of  the  Hellibore  is  two 
feet  high.  We  saw  Two  Garter  Snakes  and  one  of 
our  savages  snapt  his  Gun  at  4  Wolves.  We  skirted 
a  beautiful  Lake  Half  a  Mile  long  and  a  Quarter  of 
a  Mile  wide,  surrounded  with  gently  swelling  Hills; 
it  disembogues  in   a   placid   stream   and   presents  a 

most 

41 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

most  fit  spot  for  Water  Works.1  We  crossed  many- 
Brooks  and  discovered  not  a  few  Fountains,  for  the 
whole  Line  is  well  watered  above.  Half  the 
Timber  is  Beech  &  Underbrush,  plenty  in  most 
Parts.  Nearly  7  Miles  from  the  Corner  is  a  Knowle 
somewhat  in  the  Form  of  a  Sugar  Loaf,  beautifully 
stationed  so  as  to  command  a  Prospect  all  around  of 
low  grounds  which  extend  to  Otego  Creek,  here 
broken  into  several  Islands,  the  Water  2  Feet  deep 
and  very  rapid,  the  largest  Branch  8  or  10  yards 
wide.  The  Valley  is  about  half  a  Mile  from  Hill 
to  Hill  and  of  the  richest  Kind,  Nature  producing 
a  Multitude  of  Herbs,  Plants  and  Flowers  and  inter 
alia  the  wild  Lilly  and  the  Polishing  Reed  used  by 
Joiners;  the  Timber  here  Elm,  Beech,  Sugar  Maple, 
Birch  Wild  Cherry  and  others,  a  gravelly  Bottom 
to  the  Creeks  and  wild  rasberries  in  plenty. 

There  is  a  high  Hill  on  the  farther  Bank  of 
Otego  which,  and  another  arm  of  it  being  passed,  we 
arrived  at  Hartwick's  Corner,  a  Sugar  Maple,  which 
is  just  7^  Miles  and  16^  Chains  from  the  Butter- 
nuts.1 We  begin  to  be  teazed  with  Muscetoes  and 
little  Gnats  called  here  Punkies.  The  remainder  of 
this  days  journey  was  thro  hilly  ground  with  mode- 
rate Ascents  and  Descents ;  Two  Hemloc  Swamps  & 
Sundry  Brooks  occurred ;  the  Soil  &  Wood  as  before 

with 


1  This  Lake  is  now  the  property  of  my  nephew  John  Smith  and  called 
Smith's  Lake. — R.  S. 

On  a  map  dated  1856  it  is  known  as  Gilbert's  Lake. 

!The  Butternut  Creek  is  tributary  to  the  Unadilla  River.  General  Jacob 
Morris,  nephew  of  Staats  Long  Morris,  ascended  it  in  a  canoe  in  1787, 
founded  a  settlement  on  its  banks,  and  in  1795  was  visited  thereby  the 
French  statesman,  Talleyrand. 

42 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

with  the  Addition  of  a  few  large  White  Pines,  not 
a  single  Pitch  Pine  yet  seen. 

21st  It  rained  all  last  Night  and  this  Morning. 
Nevertheless  we  proceeded  and  g}4  Miles  and  i  \y2 
chains  from  the  Butternuts  we  crossed  over  an 
exalted  Hill  from  whence  there  is  a  view  beyond  the 
Susquehannah  to  the  right.  At  the  Foot  of  this 
Hill  we  passed  the  Brook  Letter  B  in  Pickens  Map 
about  8  Feet  broad  and  runs  with  a  brisk  pace, 
murmuring  like  the  rest  of  the  Rivulets  over  Stones, 
the  Meadow  on  both  sides  ioo  yards  wide  but  not 
so  rich  as  some  we  have  seen.  Rising  the  opposite 
Hill  we  found  at  the  Foot  of  it  another  Brook  as 
large  as  Letter  B,  &  afterwards  passed  many  other 
streams  and  springs  with  a  deep  Hemloc  Swamp. 
Some  of  these  Rivulets  descend  under  Ground  and 
rise  again  at  a  Distance,  great  variety  of  Flowers 
in  every  Direction  and  plenty  of  a  particular  Species 
of  Grass  thought  to  be  the  small  Plaintain  or  Sheep 
Grass  of  which  our  Horses  are  fond. 

After  labor  thro  a  long  Hemloc  Morass  bordered 
on  the  River  with  a  good  but  narrow  Bottom  we 
came  to  the  Susquehannah  and  marked  a  Butternut 
Saplin  for  a  Corner  by  the  edge  of  the  River  in  the 
said  low  Ground,  standing  between  a  Blac  Birch  a 
Linden  and  a  Sugar  Maple  all  marked,  where  the 
River  bears  S.  2°  E.  and  is  about  30  yards  wide  run- 
ning with  a  still  but  strong  Current.  The  Length 
of  this  E.  and  West  Side  is  12  Miles  50  chains  and 
50  Links.  I  tried  to  fish  with  Bacon  Bait  but  caught 
Nothing.  We  encamped  on  the  Borders  of  the 
River  in  the  midst  of  a  Shower  and  it  was  the  first 
Time  I    ever  slept  in   a    Morass.     The  Timber  on 

1  -  this 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

this  part  of  the  Susquehh  is  mostly  Elm  and  Sugar 
Maple;  on  the  opposite  Shore  there  is  a  Grove  of 
Hemlocs  and  the  Underbrush  here  as  in  many  other 
Places  is  not  very  thick. 

22n.d  Wm  Ridgway  and  myself  went  up  to  the 
Colsl  with  the  Men  and  one  Pack  Horse  leaving  R. 
Wells  Jos  Biddle  and  John  Hicks  at  the  Corner 
Tent.  We  had  a  fatiguing  Walk  over  Hills  and 
Bogs  and  several  Times  wandered  out  of  the  Way 
and  lost  each  other.  At  length  Ridgway  &  myself 
found  out  the  Oaksnee  assisted  by  the  Compass. 
The  rapidity  of  this  stream  carried  me  off  several 
yards  till  I  happened  to  seize  a  Tree  &  escaped  with 
the  Loss  only  of  one  Shoe  which  the  Violence  of 
the  Current  took  from  my  foot.  The  Oaksnee  at 
this  Spot  is  12  or  15  yards  broad  and  between  3 
and  4  Feet  deep.  We  met  Mr  Picken  at  the  Oaksnee 
and  he  returned  with  us.  I  walked  4  or  5  Miles  thro 
a  rugged  path  with  one  Shoe  and  saw  by  the  Way  a 
Pheasants  Nest  with  7  Eggs  of  the  same  Color  and 
Shape  and  Twice  the  Size  of  a  Partridges  Egg.  The 
Land  from  our  upper  Corner  to  Col.  Croghans 
House  along  the  Susquehannah  is  in  general  but  in- 
different, some  deep  Meadow  &  low  Ground  but  far 
more  which  is  rough  &  hilly. 

23d  Mr  Wells,  Biddle  and  Hicks  came  to  us  at 
Col.  Croghans;  none  of  our  yesterdays  Party  except 
one  came  in  today;  being  rainy  we  staid  here 
all   day. 

24th  It  rained  again.  The  Elevated  Hills  and 
aspiring  of  this  country  seem  to  intercept  the  flying 

vapors 

iCol.  George  Croghan. 

44 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

vapors  and  draw  down  more  moisture  than  more 
humble  places.  So  Nature  wisely  feeds  the  two 
great  Rivers  whose  sources  are  here';1  we  advanced 
N.  W.  along  the  Lake  near  a  Mile  into  the  woods 
with  3  carpenters  felled  a  white  Pine  Tree  and 
began  a  Canoe.  Two  men  detached  yesterday 
Morng.  to  seek  out  our  lost  Associates  returned  and 
brought  in  one  only  with  a  Chain  and  Keg;  the 
other  Two  men  with  Pickens  Son  and  the  Pack 
Horse  are  still  missing. 

The  Lands  seen  today  are  like  the  rest  covered 
with  White  Pines,  Elm,  Beech,  Birch  &  so  on,  the 
Soil  a  gravelly  Clay  and  Situation  somewhat  more 
level  than  usual  with  some  Gullies  &  Runs  of 
Water.  We  saw  a  few  Hiccory  and  Oak  Trees 
which  are  rare  here.  Some  Trout  were  caught  this 
Morng.  22  Inches  long;  they  are  spotted  like  ours 
with  Yellow  Bellies,  yellow  Flesh  when  boiled  6c 
wide  mouths.  There  are  Two  species,  the  Common 
&  the  Salmon  Trout.  Some  Chubs  were  likewise 
taken  above  a  Foot  in  Length.  The  other  Fish 
common  in  the  Lake  &  other  Waters,  according  to 
Information  are  Pickerel,  large  and  shaped  like  a 
Pike,  Red  Perch,  Catfish  reported  to  be  upwards  of 
Two  feet  long,  Eels,  Suckers,  Pike,  a  few  shad  and 
some  other  Sorts  not  as  yet  perfectly  known.  The 
Bait  now  used  is  Pidgeons  Flesh  or  Guts,  for  Worms 

are 

1  The  author  may  refer  here  to  the  source  of  the  Delaware  as  well  as  the 
Susquehanna,  but  the  Delaware  rises  at  Stamford,  thirty  miles  distant  in  a 
straight  line.  Small  streams  tributary  to  the  Mohawk  descend  the  hills  a 
few  miles  north  of  Otsego  Lake  ;  but  these  latter  are  scarcely  the  source  of 
the  Mohawk.  Doubtless  the  author  had  in  mind  the  hill  country  in  general 
in  those  parts,  as  the  source  of  the  Susquehanna  and  Delaware. 

45 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

are  scarce.1  The  Land  Frogs  or  Toads  are  very 
large,  spotted  with  green  and  yellow,  Bears  and 
Deer  are  common;  I  saw  their  Dung  often  and  both 
the  Species  were  seen  by  some  of  our  Company.2 

After  Dinner  Mr  Picken  and  another  went  out 
on  a  Scout  after  our  lost  Men.  Two  others  also 
took  a  different  Rout  for  the  same  Purpose.  Mus- 
cetoes  &  Gnats  are  now  troublesome.  We  observed 
a  natural  Strawberry  Patch  before  Croghans  Door 
which  is  at  present  in  bloom,  we  found  the  Ground 
Squirrels  and  small  red  squirrels  very  numerous  and 

1  approached  near  to  one  Rabbit  whose  Face  ap- 
peared of  a  blac  Colour. 

25th  We  finished  and  launched  our  Canoe  into 
the  Lake.     She  is  32  Feet  7  Inches  in  Length  and 

2  Feet  4  Inches  broad  ;  the  next  Day  we  made  oars 
and  Paddles. 

26t.h     Our    lost    Party    returned    having    been    4 

Days 

*In  1773  the  Settlers  had  procured  a  Sein  which  with  a  Canoe  they  drew 
across  the  Susquehanna.  I  happened  to  lodge  one  night,  May  17,  at  their 
Fishing  Hut,  while  several  women  amused  themselves  in  catching  fine  Shad, 
Herring,  Trout,  Chub,  and  Succers. — R.  S. 

2In  April  1777,  being  at  John  Sleeper's  House  on  the  Otego,  he  told 
me  his  Boys  had  taken  1  2  or  1  5  deer  that  winter  near  the  House.  They  had 
placed  a  Steel  Trap  by  the  side  of  a  Dead  Cow  wherein  I  saw  a  large  she- 
wolf,  sleek  and  plump,  and  the  next  Morning  the  same  Trap  secured  a 
Raven.— R.  S. 

John  Sleeper  was  probably  a  son  of  Joseph  Sleeper,  a  Quaker  preacher 
from  New  Jersey,  whom  Mr.  Smith  induced  to  settle  on  the  Otego  tract. 
Joseph  Sleeper  was  a  man  of  many  frontier  accomplishments,  being  besides 
preacher  a  surveyor,  inill-wright,  carpenter,  stone-mason,  and  blacksmith. 
He  built  the  first  saw  and  grist  mill  on  the  Otego  patent,  doing  the  work 
himself,  and  securing  patrons  from  points  as  far  distant  as  thirty  miles. 
Brant  was  often  a  guest  at  his  home.  Some  Seneca  Indians,  on  their  return 
from  Cherry  Valley,  after  the  massacre,  visited  Sleeper's  home,  and  robbed 
it  of  food  and  clothing.      Brant  tried  in  vain  to  restrain  them. 

46 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

Days  &  Nights  in  the  Wilderness  without  Food ; 
they  abandoned  the  pack  Horse  and  Goods  in  the 
Woods. 

27^  We  are  waiting  for  our  goods.  Picken  was 
dispatched  to  Cherry  Valley  to  hasten  some  Hands 
hired  there ;  we  engaged  Joseph  Brant  the  Mohawk 
to  go  down  with  us  to  Aquahga.1  Last  Night  a 
drunken  Indian  came  and  kissed  Col.  Croghan  and 
me  very  joyously  ;  here  are  natives  of  different  Na- 
tions almost  continually ;  they  visit  the  Deputy  Su- 
perintendent as  Dogs  to  the  Bone  for  what  they  can 
get.  John  Davies  a  young  Mohawk,  one  of  the 
Retinue,  who  has  been  educated  at  D'  Wheelocks2 
School  in  Connecticut,  now  quitted  our  Service  to 
march  agf  the  Catawbas3  in  company  with  a  few  of 
his  Countrymen  who  take  this  long  Tour  merely  to 
gratify  revenge  or  Satiate  Pride. 

We  found  many  petrifyed  Shells  in  these  Parts  & 
sometimes  on  the  Tops  of  high  Hills,  &  they  seem 
on  a  transient  Glance  to  be  of  the  Marine  Kind. 
Col.  Croghan  says  he  once  found  oyster  shells  on  the 
Allegheny  Mount5.     He  shewed  us  a  piece  of  copper 

Ore 

1  More  properly  written  Oghwaga.  In  the  1 8th  century  the  name  was 
spelled  in  almost  every  conceivable  manner.  Oghwaga,  the  most  ancient  and 
the  largest  Indian  settlement  on  the  Susquehanna,  was  closely  identified  with 
the  Border  Wars  of  the  Revolution  as  a  headquarters  and  base  of  supplies  for 
the  Indians. 

-Rev.  Dr.  Eleazir  Wheelock  of  Lebanon,  Conn.,  where,  under  the  pat- 
ronage of  Sir  William  Johnson,  many  Indian  boys  besides  Joseph  Brant  were 
educated.  The  school  was  afterwards  removed  to  Concord,  N.  H.,  and  out 
of  it  was  eventually  developed  Dartmouth  College. 

3  The  Catawba  Indians  lived  on  the  river  of  the  same  name  in  the  Caro- 
linas.  They  had  long  been  at  enmity  with  the  Iroquois,  and  with  some  of 
the  southwestern  tribes.  With  the  white  settlers  they  were  friendly,  and  in 
the  Revolution  assisted  the  patriot  cause. 

47 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Ore  as  supposed.  The  Indian  who  gave  it  to  him 
said  he  found  it  on  our  Tract.1  We  are  told  that 
Lake  Camaduragy  contains  much  Fish  of  the  Kinds 
already  noted.  Col.  C.  says  that  some  of  his  Cows 
were  out  in  the  Woods  all  last  Winter  without  Hay 
and  they  now  look  well  and  a  Man  at  the  other 
Lake  lost  a  Horse  last  Fall  and  found  him  this  Spring 
in  good  order.  Our  Goods  and  Horse  were  recov- 
ered to  day.  The  Colonel  says  he  has  sold  his  land 
back  of  Hardwick's  Patent  to  sixty  New  England 
Families  at  6/  an  Acre  and  that  some  of  them  will 
settle  on  the  Tract  this  Fall.2 

The  Col.  had  a  Cargo  of  Goods  arrived  to  day  such 
as  Hogs,  Poultry,  Crockery  Ware  and  Glass.  The 
settled  Indian  Wages  here  are  4/.  a  Day  York  Cur- 
rency, being  Haifa  Dollar. 

28th  Sunday.  I  had  an  Opportunity  of  inspecting 
the  Bark  Canoes  often  used  by  the  Natives ;  these 
Boats  are  constructed  of  a  single  sheet  of  Bark 
stripped  from  the  Elm,  Hiccory  or  Chesnut,  1 2  or 
14  Feet  long  and  3  or  4  Feet  broad  and  sharp  at 
each  End  and  these  sewed  with  Thongs  of  the  same 
Bark.  In  Lieu  of  a  Gunnel  they  have  a  small  Pole 
fastned  with  Thongs,  sticks  across  &  Ribs  of  Bark, 
and  they  deposit  Sheets  of  Bark  in  her  Bottom  to  pre- 
vent Breaches  there.  These  vessels  are  very  light, 
each  broken  and  often  patched  with  Pieces  of  Bark 
as  well  as  corked  with  Oakum  composed  of  pounded 
Bark. 

Col. 

1 1  found  a  transparent  Stone  there  in  1773  which  has  much  the  appear- 
ance of  polished  Chrystal. — R.  S. 

2  This  settlement  appears  never  to  have  been  made. 

48 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

Col.  C.  says  that  Cap1  Prevoost  has  sold  some  of 
his  Lands  at  £io,  and  some  at  ^40  p  Hundred  Acres 
(credat  Indams  Apella  non  Ego).  The  Col.  talks  of 
building  a  Saw  Mill  and  Grist  Mill  here  on  the  Sus- 
quehannah  near  his  House  and  has  had  a  Millwright 
to  view  the  Spot.1 

29th  Myself  with  Joseph  Brant  his  wife  and 
Child  and  another  Young  Mohawk  named  James 
went  down  in  the  new  Canoe  to  our  upper  Corner 
whilst  the  rest  of  the  Company  travelled  by  land. 
Wm  Ridgway  and  3  others  were  detached  to  the 
Otego  to  take  the  courses  of  the  Creek.  Picken  is  to 
take  the  courses  of  the  Susquehannah.  This  River 
from  the  Lake  Otsego  hither  is  full  of  Logs  and 
Trees  and  short  crooked  Turns  and  the  Navigation 
for  Canoes  and  Batteaux  requires  Dexterity.  Ed. 
Croghan  is  about  to  employ  the  Indians  in  the  useful 
service  of  removing  the  logs  next  summer.2  My  Two 
Mohawks  brought  me  safe  and  without  any  Delay, 
save  about  an  Hour  that  it  took  to  cut  away  some 
Logs  which  crossed  the  stream  and  stopped  the  Pas- 
sage 


1  This  was  never  done,  but  some  Transient  Travellers  from  Monmouth 
County  N.  Jersey,  afterwards  erected  a  good  Bridge  over  the  river,  just 
where  it  issues  from  the  Lake. — R.  S. 

At  this  point  the  Susquehanna  is  still  spanned  by  a  bridge,  which  con- 
tinues eastward  the  main  business  street  of  Cooperstown.  Just  below  the 
bridge,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  are  the  grounds  in  which  stands  the  summer 
home  of  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Henrv  C.  Potter. 

-  In  1779  General  James  Clinton  and  his  army,  en  route  to  join  Sullivan 
in  his  expedition  against  the  Indians,  met  with  the  same  difficulties.  He 
overcame  them  by  building  a  dam  across  the  river,  which  raised  the  waters  of 
the  lake  two  or  three  feet.  He  then  released  the  waters  by  breaking  the  dam, 
so  that  his  flotilla  passed  rapidly  down  the  river  to  Tioga  Point,  a  distance 
of  more  than  one  hundred  miles. 


49 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 


sage  totally  till  we  cleared  it  by  hard  labor.1  The 
current  very  rapid,  the  [bottom]  commonly  Gravel 
and  the  waters  clear  so  that  we  saw  many  large  Fish 
swimming  up.  The  Indians  strike  them  with  Har- 
poons and  sharp  pointed  sticks.  Settingpoles  are 
more  used  than  Paddles. 

It  is  perhaps  about  Ten  Miles  from  Croghans  to 
our  Upper  Corner  by  Land  and  near  20  by  Water ; 
the  Oaksnee  is  not  so  large  at  the  Mouth  as  the  Sus- 
quehannah.  I  did  not  observe  any  large  Creeks  be- 
sides. The  Lands  along  the  River  on  either  Hand 
are  generally  level  and  the  greater  Part  might  be 
made  Meadow  &  some  extraordinary  good,  particu- 
larly at  the  Mouth  of  the  Oaksnee  and  several  other 
Places  where  the  Weeds  and  Grass  were  high  and  the 
Timber  Butternut,  Sugar  Maple,  Beech,  Hemloc  & 
many  other  Species.  I  saw  divers  Grape  Vines,  the 
Bunches  were  quite  out  and  ready  to  blofsom.  They 
appeared  to  be  of  the  little  blac  winter  Grape.  A 
Young  Bear  was  killed  and  eaten  by  our  People.  In 
the  Evening  Messrs  Wells  and  Biddle  myself  and  an 
Indian  struck  off  a  South  Westerly  Course  thro  the 
Tract  to  examine  it ;  we  travelled  Two  Miles  and 
encamped  ;  it  rained  all  Night. 

30th  We  moved  on  very  early  and  reached  the 
Otego  about  Two  oCloc  at  the  Place  where  it  is 
broken  into  several  Branches  forming  Islands.  The 
Creek  just  below  is  about  50  Feet  broad  running  at 
present  with   much  Velocity;  it  rained  all  Day.      In 

the 

1  In  May  1773,  I  carried  down  a  large  loaded  Batteau  from  the  Head  of 
Lake  Otsego  to  the  mouth  of  Otego,  and  then  up  that  Creek  [several]  more 
miles,  being  probably  the  first  white  man  that  ever  [navigated]  that  creek  so- 
high.— R.  S. 

5° 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

the  Dawn  of  this  Morng.  I  was  waked  up  by  the 
Yell  of  a  wild  Beast  within  ioo  yards  of  our  Tent, 
conjectured  to  be  either  a  Wolf  or  Panther. 

The  Otego  here  has  a  stony  Bottom  ;  we  walked 
down  it  near  a  Mile  and  in  some  places  the  Low 
Land  on  each  Side  is  rich  but  narrow,  exhibiting  a 
great  Variety  of  Plants  Weeds  and  Vegetables  and 
among  the  rest  the  Rasberry,  Gooseberry,  much 
Hellebore  which  is  common  all  over  the  Low  Lands 
&  some  of  it  is  now  near  3  Feet  high,  Water  Grass 
and  other  Herbage.  One  Meadow  is  almost  clear 
of  Wood  and  ready  for  the  Scythe.  We  could  not 
well  discover  the  Extent  of  the  Meadows  on  the 
Western  Banks  of  Otego,  but  they  appeared  to  excel 
the  Eastern  which  seldom  were  more  than  100 
yards  wide  and  now  and  then  the  Hills  reached  the 
Edge  of  the  Water.  The  Islands  are  good  &  rich. 
These  Parts  are  not  much  encumbered  with  Under 
Brush  &  the  prevailing  Woods  are  Elm,  Blac  Thorn 
and  Button  wood. 

We  had  taken  an  oblique  Direction  thro  the 
Heart  of  the  Patent,  from  the  upper  Corner  to  the 
Otego,  guessed  to  be  at  least  1 4  Miles  over  1 2 
extensive  and  exalted  Hills  forming  all  the  Course 
save  a  few  small  Intervales  not  remarkable  for  Good- 
ness. In  the  Evening  we  steered  across  for  Skeneves 
but  soon  built  our  Bark  Shed  and  made  our  Fire  as 
usual  for  the  Night.  The  Indians  have  a  convenient 
mode  of  carrying  their  Children.  On  a  broad  Board 
2  or  3  Feet  long  there  are  fastned  Bindings  of 
List,  Cloth  or  Wampum  which  grow  larger  from 
the  lower  to  the  upper  End  in  the  Manner  of  a 
Partridge  Net,  with  a  Hoop  at   the  Head.      In  this 

5 1  Kind 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Kind  of  Basket  they  tye  the  Child  with  its  Blanket 
or  [Clothes]  on.  The  Board  has  a  Strap  by  which 
they  Sling  it  on  the  Shoulders.  Upon  occasion  they 
set  the  Board  and  Infant  upright  against  a  Tree  or 
lay  it  out  of  the  Way  with  little  Trouble.  They 
bind  the  Children  too  tight  so  as  to  swell  the  Face 
and  make  them  uneasy.  The  Mother  washes  her 
Offspring  often.      It  continues  to  be  rainy  Weather. 

31*5  Yesterday  I  observed  a  Birds  Nest  on  the 
Ground  at  the  Foot  of  a  Tree  containing  3  Eggs  of 
the  same  Colour,  Size  and  Shape  of  the  Robins 
Egg.  I  suppose  they  belong  to  the  Swamp  Robin 
who  delights  in  Solitude,  avoiding  the  Haunts  of 
Mankind  &  whose  chearful  and  sprightly  Note  in 
the  dreary  Wilderness  often  enlivens  the  weary 
Traveller.  Yesterday  also  and  before  and  after  we 
discovered  petrifyed  Sea  Shells  at  the  Top  of  the 
Hill  on  the  Roots  of  large  Trees  blown  down  and 
at  the  Bottom  of  Brooks. 

At  7  oCloc  A.  M.  we  decamped  for  Skeneves  & 
hit  the  Susquehannah  near  2  Miles  below;  then 
following  the  common  Indian  Path1  we  arrived  at 
the  Landing  opposite  to  Yokums  House  at  one 
oCloc:  it  is  supposed  to  be  about  6  Miles  across 
from  the  Otego  to  Skeneves.  Yokum  says  he  has 
travelled  often  to  Schoharie  along  a  path  the  same 
which    Col.    Morris  and    the   Duchess   of  Gordon 

lately 

1  This  was  the  regular  Susquehanna  trail,  one  branch  of  which  in  these 
parts  went  to  Otsego  Lake  and  Cherry  Valley,  and  another,  following  the 
Charlotte,  crossed  from  Summit  Lake  to  Schoharie,  whence  it  ran  to  Fort 
Hunter  and  the  Mohawk.  Following  this  trail  southward  one  met  the 
Oneida  trail  at  the  mouth  of  the  Unadilla  River.  Proceeding  thence  along  the 
Susquehanna  one  could  find  his  way  to  Chesapeake  Bay. 

52 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

lately  took  on  Horseback  with  their  retinue;  he 
thinks  it  is  between  40  and  50  Miles  and  he  has 
walked  it  in  a  day ;  that  there  is  but  one  Creek  and 
that  is  fordable  and  about  3  large  Hills  &  has  no 
Doubt  but  that  a  good  Road  may  be  opened  for 
Carriages. 

Yokum  (or  Joachim  Falkenberg)1  has  lived  here 
with  his  Family  4  years,  he  is  a  Dutchman  but 
speaks  good  English,  pays  no  Rent  as  yet  to  Liv- 
ingston, built  the  House,  but  found  the  Orchard 
already  planted  by  the  Indians  who  also  planted  one 
at  the  Mouth  of  Otego.  The  Pheasants  are  plen- 
tiful. Of  those  we  saw  one  had  8  or  9  young  ones; 
they  are  said  to  be  fond  of  Beech  nuts  wherein  these 
Parts  abound. 

The  Course  we  took  yester  evening  and  to  day 
from  Otego  was  about  E.  by  S.;  we  passed  5  High 
and  long  Hills  constituting  nearly  the  whole  Dis- 
tance. These  Hills  are  for  the  most  Part  tillable; 
much  Small  Slate  Stone  on  the  Surface  of  the  Soil 
covered  sometimes  by  that  dark  mould  which  is  de- 
rived from  putritied  Leaves  and  Vegetables;  there 
are  a  few  Flats  but  the  Bone  is  more  plentiful  than 
the  Flesh.  We  traversed  one  or  more  Hills  sup- 
posed to  be  the  Corner  of  Letter  F.  in  Pickens  Map 
or  of  that  Nature;  this  Part  sustains  a  few  large 
White  Pines  and  a  little  Brush  but  most  of  it  has 
been  destroyed  by  Fire  and  the  Soil  is  stony  in 
Clay,  very  barren  &  good  for  little  except  the  Slopes 

of 

Joachim  Van  Valkenberg,  whose  family  for  forty  years  had  been  settled 
in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  came  to  this  place  in  I  765.  In  the  Border  Wars  he 
was  a  noted  scout.      In  1781  he  was  killed  in  a  battle  on  Summit  Lake. 

53 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

of  Hills  which  produced  Rasberries  Strawberries, 
Blaeberries  and  other  Fruits  and  Flowers  but  Lime- 
stone seems  to  abound.1 

Along  this  Tour  Beech  is  the  Master  Wood  as 
Oak  is  in  Pennsylvania ;  this  is  nearly  equalled  by 
the  Sugar  Maple,  nor  is  there  any  Want  of  Elm, 
Linden,  Iron  Wood,  Some  Chesnut,  a  few  Blac, 
red  and  White  Oak,  Shell  bark,  Hiccory,  together 
with  Button  wood,  Ash,  Hemloc,  White  Pine, 
Birch,  Wild  Cherry,  Blac  Thorn,  Butternut  and 
others.  The  Hemloc  grow  mostly  in  Swamps  but 
sometimes  in  Groves  on  the  Upland;  the  White 
Pine  is  scattered  here  and  there;  the  Button  Wood 
Blac  Thorn  and  Butternut  are  to  be  found  chiefly  in 
Marsh  and  low  Grounds  and  along  the  Sides  of 
Creeks  &  the  River;  the  rest  grow  indifferently  on 
the  Mountains  &  Valleys.  The  Trees  are  ever  tall 
and  lofty,  sometimes  200  Feet  high  and  strait,  but 
not  proportionally  large  in  Circumference,  except 
some  white  Pines  and  a  few  particular  Trees  of 
other  Kinds  which  are  both  long  and  bulky.2 

The  Underbrush  is  in  some  Places  very  thick;  in 
others  one  may  almost  ride  in  a  chair.  The  Woods 
are  in  many  Parts  blocked  up  with  fallen  Trees,  so 
that  it  was  a  wearisome  Pilgrimage  for  me.  My 
Companions  bore  it  better.  The  whole  Country  is 
well  watered  by  Creeks  Brooks  &  Springs. 

In 

1  This  Letter  F  was  thought  too  unprofitable  to  be  divided  with  the  rest 
among  the  Owners  ;  so  it  remains,  about  2,000  acres  in  Quantity,  the 
Common  Property  of  all  concerned  in  the  Patent. —  R.  S. 

2  Some  years  afterwards  John  Sleeper  and  myself  measured  a  Birch  Tree 
growing  in  his  Meadow  on  the  Border  of  Otego  Creek,  and  found  it  26  feet 
in  Circumference. —  R.  S. 

54 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

In  the  Afternoon  we  went  over  the  River  to 
Yokums  House;  the  Susquehannah  is  fordable  at  this 
spot.  The  Orchard  planted  by  the  Natives  is  irreg- 
ular and  not  in  rows ;  some  Trees  are  a  few  Feet  & 
some  many  Yards  asunder  &  they  are  at  present  in 
Blofsom.  I  discerned  one  Morella  cherry  among 
them  ;  they  are  middle  sized  &  look  healthy  and  vig- 
orous. We  have  cold  Weather  for  the  Season  and 
Rain  again  to-day.  Skeneves  Creek  was  so  termed 
from  an  Indian  of  that  Name  who  formerly  lived 
there.  The  Indian  Graves  in  the  Orchard  are  not 
placed  in  any  regular  Order  nor  shaped  in  one 
Fashion.  One  of  them  was  a  flat  Pyramid  of  about 
3  Feet  high  trenched  round  ;  another  was  flatted  like 
a  Tomb  and  a  Third  something  like  our  Form. 
Here  is  level,  rich  Pasture  Land  cleared  long  since 
by  the  Indians  &  the  remains  of  their  Corn  Hills  yet 
to  be  seen.  Yokum's  Mare  looks  in  good  order  and 
has  been  out  in  the  Woods  all  winter  but  there  is 
now  good  pasture  of  our  common  Grass  in  the  cleared 
Parts. 

The  Indians  of  Aquhaga,  Otsiningo  (or  as  the 
Maps  spell  them  Ononchquage  and  Osewingo) 
and  other  places  below  have  a  Path  along  the  Sus- 
quehannah on  the  West  side  to  Skeneves  where  they 
ford  the  River  and  have  their  Path  on  the  East  side 
up  to  Cherry  Valley  ;  the  River  here  may  be  25 
Yards  over  at  present  a  rapid  Stream  and  there  is  a 
dangerous  Passage  occasioned  by  Logs  a  Quarter  ot  a 
Mile  below  where  Two  Canoes  lately  overset  and  a 
white  Child  was  drowned.  Many  People  are  passing 
this  Way  to  view  the  Country.  Yokums  Indian  Corn 
is  planted  but  not   yet  come  up.    He  says  he  com- 

55  monlv 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

monly  raises  very  good  Corn  with  the  Hoe  only  hav- 
ing but  lately  procured  a  Plow.  He  has  a  small 
Garden.  The  Indians  are  not  troublesome  to  Him 
tho  they  often  call  at  his  House;  he  has  sown  no 
Wheat  or  Rye,  obtains  his  Necessaries  chiefly  from 
Cherry  Valley,  but  would  rather  from  Schoharie  if 
the  Road  was  opened.  Col.  Morris  and  the  Duchefs 
lodged  3  Nights  at  his  House  2  or  3  weeks  ago,  with 
a  large  Train  of  Attendants ;  they  went  over  to  view 
their  Tract  at  Unadella  or  as  some  call  it  Tuna- 
derrah.1 

Here  we  met  with  one  Dorn  a  Dutchman  with 
his  Family  from  Conejoharie  going  to  settle  at 
Wywomoc;  he  informs  us  That  he  bought  of  the 
Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania  300  acres  chiefly  Flats 
for  ^5  sterling  p  Hundred  to  be  paid  in  15  years 
without  Interest  and  a  Penny  an  Acre  sterl!  Quit  Rent 
payable  annually;  That  130  Families  from  his 
Neighborhood  on  the  Mohawks  River  have  actually 
bought  there  and  are  about  to  remove,  his  Family 
being  the  second,  the  Man  who  lost  his  Child  here 
the  first;2  that  he  has  travelled  from  Sopus  to 
Depues  on    the    Delaware,3    a  good  Waggon   Road 

&  one 

1  Other  forms  of  this  word  in  contemporary  writings  are  Tunadilla,  Tian- 
adorha,  Cheonadilla  and  Teyonadelhough. 

2  By  Wywomoc  is  meant  the  Wyoming  Valley.  These  families  from  the 
Mohawk  represented  a  migration  independent  of  the  one  from  Connecticut 
and  essentially  hostile  to  it.  By  "  the  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania  "  the 
author  means  the  Penn  party  between  whom  and  the  Connecticut  settlers 
conflicts  were  springing  up  which  are  known  in  history  as  the  Pennamite 
Wars.  In  1775  some  forty  of  these  families  from  the  Mohawk  (Dutch  and 
Scotch-Irish)  were  expelled  from  Wyoming  by  the  Yankees.  The  resent- 
ment thus  caused  became  one  of  the  contributory  motives  for  the  massacre  of 
1778. 

3  Above  the  Water-gap  whence  the  route  lay  past  the  Pocono  Mountains. 

56 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

&  one  may  go  it  on  Horseback  in  Two  Days.  From 
Depues  to  Wywomoc  are  30  Miles,  a  Foot  path  but 
may  be  rode  very  well  on  a  Horse;  40  miles  from 
Wywomoc  to  Bethlehem  at  present  a  Foot  path  but 
they  are  soon  to  make  a  Waggon  Road  ;  that  he  has 
been  on  the  Delaware  1 5  or  20  miles  above  Cookoose 
and  1  5  below  that.  They  were  obliged  to  carry  the 
Canoe  5  Times  and  the  last  Time  above  a  Mile  & 
a  half,  thinks  he  should  have  been  lost  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  assistance  of  his  Indians  on  the  Rocks 
and  Falls  in  those  Parts ;  that  1 5  miles  below  the 
Cookoose  one  Decker  lived1  who  traded  to  Philad3 
in  a  large  Durham  Boat2  so  that  from  thence  it  is 
passable ;  it  was  1  o  years  since  he  was  here.3  They 
call  it  20  Miles  from  Yokums  House  to  Cherry 
Valley ;  his  Son  goes  and  returns  on  Horseback  in 
One  Day  between  Sun  &  Sun.4,  The  Canoe  we  had 
built  at  the  Lake  being  gone  up  for  Provisions  for 
the  Use  of  the  Surveyors  our  Indians  Joseph  Brant 
&  James  set  about  building  a  Bark  Canoe. 

June  1.  1769.  We  found  it  very  cold  last  Night 
&  observed  high  Hills  all  round  Yokums  House  at 
a  small  Distance.  Messre  Wells  and  Biddle  this  Day 
marked  out  a  Path  to  the  intended  Store  House  on 
the     Creek     Onoyarenton.5     Joseph    discovered     a 

Rattle 

1  At  the  mouth  of  the  East  Branch,  or  what  is  now  Hancock. 

2  The  boat,  referred  to  in  the  Introduction  as  used  for  the  shipment  of 
grain  from  points  on  the  upper  Delaware. 

:t  In  the  sequel  we  met  with  none  of  these  Difficulties  on  the  Delaware  ; 
nor  is  it  probable  that  any  White  Person  ever  dwelt  between  Cookose  and 
Cushietunk.— R.  S. 

4  I  have  found  it  a  moderate  day's  Journey  from  my  house  in  Otego  to 
Cherry  Valley  by  the  foot  of  Lake  Otsego.  —  R.  S. 

5  Now  written  Oneonta.  The  village  of  that  name  is  the  largest  town 
on  the  Susquehanna  above  Binghamton.      The  word  means  a  stony  place. 

57 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Rattle  Snake  not  far  from  the  Tent  and  called  for 
me  to  view  it.  The  Snake  lay  quiet  till  we  pro- 
voked him  to  rattle  for  Some  Time  and  then  James 
ran  a  sharp  Stick  thro  his  Head.  He  was  about  33^ 
Feet  long,  small  at  the  Neck  and  Tail  and  thick  in 
the  Middle.  His  Back  was  of  a  brown  Hue  spotted 
with  dusky  red  and  yellow,  his  Belly  of  a  bright 
Yellow  slightly  spotted ;  he  had  1 2  Rattles,  a  large 
Mouth  and  Two  very  sharp  Teeth,  one  on  each  Side 
of  the  Upper  Jaw  &  these  it  is  said  he  can  draw 
back  at  his  Pleasure;  he  did  not  attempt  to  bite 
tho  we  stood  about  him  for  some  Minutes — probably 
the  coolnefs  of  the  weather  benumbed  him.  This 
was  the  only  Rattle  Snake  I  ever  saw  alive. 

This  Evening  our  Bark  Canoe  being  finished,  at 
yz  after  5  oCloc  myself,  Joseph  Brant  his  Wife  and 
Child  embarked  in  Her  with  some  Loading  and 
Mr  Wells  with  James  the  other  Indian  in  a  small 
Wood  Canoe  containing  most  of  the  Indians  Bag- 
gage and  our  own.  We  first  walked  down  the  path 
about  Haifa  Mile  to  avoid  the  bad  Passage  before 
mentioned,  Jos.  Biddle  going  so  far  to  see  us  on 
board.  Thus  we  parted  from  our  tent  at  the  landing 
opposite  to  Skevenes,  or  Yokum's,  now  on  our 
return  homewards.  We  paddled  down  stream  two 
hours,  and  enjoying  a  fine  serene  Evening  as  we 
descended  the  stream  about  10  Miles  to  a  Bark  Hut 
where  we  found  a  Fire  burning.  There  was  but 
one  other  carrying  place  and  the  man  said  we  might 
have  well  passed  that  as  they  in  the  canoe  came  safe 
through.     We  passed    the  Adiquetinge1  on  the  left 

&  the 

xNow  the  Charlotte,  which  early  settlers  were  in  the  habit  of  pronouncing 
Shalott.  Sir  William  Johnson,  on  receiving  a  patent  to  an  extensive  tract 
bordering  on  this  river,  changed   the   name  to   Charlotte  as  a  compliment  to 

58 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

&  the  Onoyarenton  on  the  Right.  The  first  appeared 
to  be  aboc  40  Feet  broad  at  the  Mouth  with  rich 
Bottom  on  each  Side,  the  latter  a  very  small  Creek 
not  more  than  12  or  15  Feet  over.  There  are  many 
Islands  and  all  low  good  Bottom  particularly  a  large 
one  below  the  Adiquetinge  very  fine.  We  found 
some  good  Bottoms  on  our  Side  down  to  the  Begin- 
ning of  Sir  Wm  Johnsons  Land  and  some  Intervale 
but  divers  great  barren  Hills  good  for  little. 

We  took  Notice  of  Sir  Williams  Tract  on 
each  Side  of  the  River  and  he  likewise  has  his 
Portion  of  Mountainous  Lands  with  Spots  of  good 
Meadow  wider  and  more  considerable  on  the  East 
Side  than  on  the  West.  We  could  not  know  the 
Breadth  of  some  of  the  Flats  with  any  Accuracy 
when  they  were  broad  because  we  sat  low  in  our 
diminutive  Vessels  and  slid  expeditiously  along. 

2d  The  Cold  last  Night  and  for  several  Nights 
past  was  extreme  for  the  Season  so  that  I  could  not 
sleep  well  notwithstanding  a  rousing  Fire,  a  Blanket, 
Great  Coat  and  Bear  Skin.  The  Place  where  we 
slept  was  an  extensive  Flat  whereof  a  Patch  was 
bare  of  Wood  and  overrun  with  Fern  (the  Filix 
Florida  of  the  Botanists)  a  finer  sort  than  ours,  Two 
and  Three  Feet  high.  Much  of  this  &  other  Sorts 
of  Fern  are  dispersed  over  the  Country;  the  May 
Apple,  Hellebore  and  many  more  Herbs  and  Weeds 
are  to  be  seen  including  Wild  Balm,  Wild  Onions 
or  rather  a  large  kind  of  Garlic  whose  bulb  is  of 
the  size  of  a  Musket  Bullet  which  is  very  common 
and  of  this  the  Butter  at  Mr  Croghan's  tasted  strong, 

and 

the  Queen  of  George  III.  After  the  Revolution,  the  heirs  of  Sir  William 
having  been  loyalists,  the  Charlotte  Valley  lands  were  confiscated  by  the  state. 

59 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

and  including  also  wild  Columbine,  Nettles  and 
Honeysuckles. 

A  Bear  came  this  Morning  near  to  us  &  was  pur- 
sued by  Brant  and  his  Dog  who  after  some  Chase 
brought  him  in.  This  Mohawk  it  seems  is  a  con- 
siderable Farmer  possessing  Horses  and  Cattle  and 
ioo  acres  of  rich  Land  at  Canejoharie.1  He  says 
the  Mohawks  have  lately  followed  Husbandry 
more  than  formerly,  and  that  some  Hemloc 
Swamps  when  cleared  will  produce  good  Timothy 
Grafs.  In  his  Excursion  after  the  Bear  he  says  he 
was  on  the  Onoyarenton  and  saw  some  good  Flats 
there. 

In  an  Hour  after  our  Departure  we  arrived  at  the 
old  Field2  near  the  Mouth  of  Otego  where  we  met 
Wm  Ridgway  who  finished  traversing  that  Creek 
yesterday  Evening ;  he  makes  the  exact  Length  of  the 
Otego  according  to  its  various  Windings. — (R.  Wells 
has  taken  a  Copy  of  the  Courses  &  Distances) 

We  landed  and  walked  half  a  Mile  along  the  Path 
to  the  old  Field  and  from  thence  it  is  about  Haifa 
Mile  to  the  Mouth  of  Otego.  We  dined  here  in  Com- 
pany with  Mr  William  Harper  and  M^  Campbell3  the 
Surveyor  who  are  now  running  out  Harpers  Patent. 

Ridgeway 

1  Brant's  house  in  Canajoharie  was  a  frame  structure  14x16  {eet  in  size. 
The  cellar  wall  was  standing  as  late  as  1878.  Here  Brant  once  had  as  his 
guest  a  missionary  named  Theophilus  Chamberlain,  who  said  afterwards  that 
Brant  was  "  exceeding  kind." 

2  Originally  called  Wauteghe,  a  corruption  of  which  is  the  modern  Otego. 
Here  had  existed  a  rather  large  Indian  village.  An  orchard  extended  along 
the  northern  side  of  the  river. 

3  Harper  and  Campbell  were  from  Cherry  Valley.  The  former  served  as 
a  captain  in  the  Border  Wars,  and  was  living  in  Cherry  Valley  at  the  time 
of  the  massacre. 

60 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

Ridgevvay  &  Hicks  were  likewise  present.  This  field 
has  been  formerly  planted  by  the  Indians  with  Corn 
and  Apple  Trees;  a  few  of  the  latter  remain  scattered 
about  and  are  now  in  Bloom  &  intermixed  with 
Aspens  &  other  wild  Trees  with  Rasberries  and 
Blackberries  &  there  are  Quantities  of  Strawberry 
vines  in  Blofsom.  The  Soil  is  fit  for  the  Plow  and 
tolerably  level  but  surrounded  by  Hills  and  on  the 
other  side  of  Susquehannah  are  high  Ridges  in 
Appearance  of  little  value. 

The  Point  on  the  East  side  of  Otego  is  good  but 
there  is  not  much  of  it;  on  the  West  Mouth  there 
is  more  but  we  did  not  go  over.  The  Otego  is  here 
but  narrow  and  fordable  for  Horses.  The  Susque- 
hannah may  be  about  50  yards  over.  Sir  Wm  John- 
son's Tract  on  each  side  of  the  River  hither  con- 
tinues hilly  with  some  intervales  and  small  rich 
pieces,  the  Hills  very  high  and  I  think  not  til- 
lable in  general.  The  Low  Lands  on  the  West 
Side  of  Otego  are  thought  to  excel  those  on  the 
East.1  W.  Ridgway  saw  Yesterday  Indians  who  had 
just  taken  Two  young  Beavers  alive  in  the  Otego. 
Numbers  of  Saplins  are  cut  off  by  these  animals. 
Wild  Hops  grow  here  in  Plenty  said  to  answer  the 
Purposes  of  Garden  Hops. 

In  3  Hours  &  3  Quarters  from  the  Mouth  of 
Otego  we  reached  a  Place  on  the  East  shore  where 
we  encamped.  Many  parts  of  these  shores  have 
choice  Bottoms  flanked  at  a  little  Distance  by  mode- 
rate Mountains  with  some  even  upland;  in  some 
Places  the   Hills   reached   the  Water,  in    [some]  of 

these 

1  This  has  since  been  found  true. — R.  S 
6l 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

these  we  are  told  that  King  Fishers  breed  in  the 
Bank.  The  Path  to  Ahquhaga  is  very  near  the 
River  mostly;  the  widest  Bottoms  appeared  to  me 
to  be  from  the  Otego  downwards  on  either  shore 
for  3  or  4  Miles.  These  little  Canoes  as  ballasted 
carry  us  very  well.  The  Islands  in  the  River  are  all 
rich.  We  saw  no  Creek  of  Note  this  Afternoon  but 
were  incommoded  by  Muscetoes.  We  imagine  Sir 
Wm  has  at  least  one  Third  good  Ground  exclusive 
of  Elevations.1   This  was  a  fine  clear  Day  and  warm. 

Joseph  being  unwell  took  some  Tea  of  the  Sassa- 
frass  Root  and  slept  in  the  open  Air  but  was  not 
much  better  next  Morning. 

3d  Harper  told  us  Yesterday  that  Sir  Wm  has  some 
Hemloc  Swamps  cleared  which  produce  plenty  of 
good  grass.  The  Distance  from  the  Mouth  of  Otego 
to  the  Mouth  of  Unadella2  is  according  to  Harper  & 
Campbell  16  Miles  and  from  thence  to  Ahquhaga 
28.  Yesterday  we  came  slower  on  account  of  Jo- 
seph's illness  and  the  water  for  some  miles  less  rapid. 
We  set  out  about  7  oCloc  and  in  Two  Hours  we  ar- 
rived at  a  small  village  of  Mohiccons  consisting  of  2 
houses  on  the  right  hand  and  3  on  the  Left,  a  Mile 

above 


1  Besides  his  patent  to  the  Valley  of  the  Charlotte,  Sir  William,  as  already 
stated,  was  owner  of  Susquehanna  Valley  lands  —  two  miles  on  each  side 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Charlotte  to  the  mouth  of  the  Unadilla.  The  title 
subsequently  (in  1770)  passed  into  the  hands  of  several  men  in  New  York 
City,  chief  among  whom  were  Alexander  and  Hugh  Wallace.  The  patent 
is  still  known  as  Wallace's.  Both  Wallaces  became  Tories,  but  their  lands 
escaped  confiscation  thro  having  passed  into  the  possession  of  Gouldsborough 
Banyar,  whose  atdtude  during  the  war  was  one  of  clever  neutrality.  He 
long  survived  the  conflict,  spending  his  last  days  in  Albany  as  a  blind  old 
man  whom  a  faithful  negro  was  often  seen  piloting  about  the  streets. 

2  Written  Tunaderra  in  the  original  draft. 

62 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

above  Unadella.1  Here  we  went  on  shore  and  per- 
ceived the  Huts  to  be  wretched  and  filled  with  Wo- 
men and  Children.  They  have  Cows  &  Hogs  &  a 
little  Land  cleared  with  a  Garden  fenced  in  &  In- 
dian corn  planted  very  slovenly.  Among  the  Grass, 
the  Cows  were  large  and  fat.  I  saw  no  fruit  Trees 
except  wild  ones.  The  low  Lands  to  the  Unadella 
from  several  Miles  above  it  are  more  extensive  than 
any  we  have  seen  and  as  far  up  that  Creek  as  we 
could  discern  they  were  low  &  rine  yet  bounded 
back  by  the  same  range  of  High  Lands  on  each 
Hand.     We  passed  many  Islands  &  all  good. 

At  this  village  we  left  our  Wood  Canoe  and  en- 
gaged a  good  looking  old  Indian  named  Una  to  take 
us  down  in  his  Canoe  and  pilot  us  over  to  the  Dela- 
ware which  is  his  Hunting  Country.  He  took  a 
Quarter  of  an  Hour  to  drefs  Himself  his  Wife  and 
little  Son  and  then  we  all  embarked.  These  Vil- 
lagers could  not  speak  English.  The  Unadella  or 
Tunaderrah  is  large  being  60  or  70  yards  broad  at 
the  Mouth  and  here  we  enter  the  Indian  Territory2 
not  as  yet  ceded  to  the  English. 

At  one  oCloc  we  arrived  at  an  Oneida  Village  of 
4  or  5  Houses  called  the  Great  Island  or  Cunna- 
hunta,3  the  Men  were  absent  but  a  Number  of  pretty 
Children  amused  themselves  with  shooting  Arrows  at 
a  Mark.     The  Houses   resembled  great   old   Barns. 

We 

1  That  is,  a  mile  above  the  confluence,  three  of  these  houses  being  in  what 
is  now  Sidney,  and  two  in  the  township  of  LJnadilla. 

2  Here  the  Fort  Stanwix  line,  coming  down  the  Unadilla  from  the  north, 
crossed  the  Susquehanna  and  thence  went  over  the  hills  to  the  Delaware  at 
Cookooze. 

3  Near  the  present  village  ot'Afton,  Chenan.-o  County. 

63 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

We  dressed  some  Pork  on  the  shore  for  Dinner  and 
staid  only  Half  an  Hour.  There  are  fine  Islands  and 
lowlands  about  Cunnahunta  &  yet  between  the  Un- 
adella  &  this  there  is  much  indifferent  Soil.  The 
Trees  seem  rather  smaller  than  above.  A  Number 
of  Ravens  on  One  of  the  burnt  barren  Hills  saluted 
us  with  their  hoarse  Croakings.  The  River  now 
becomes  wider.1  Our  Squaw  in  the  Canoe  suckles 
her  son  tho  he  seems  to  be  between  2  and  3 
years  old.  We  saw  Two  Apple  Trees  before  a  Door 
of  this  Village  and  some  of  the  Islands  are  a  little 
cleared.  The  Master  wood  along  Shore  from  the 
Unadilla  is  maple  and  in  higher  Ground  Beech. 

Forty  minutes  after  3  oCloc  we  passed  by  2  Indian 
Houses  on  the  left  and  just  before  us  saw  some  In- 
dians setting  Fire  to  the  Woods.  Here  are  many 
Islands  &  one  of  them  large,  quite  cleared  and  full 
of  fine  &  high  Grass.  Much  of  the  Upland  here- 
abouts has  been  burnt  &  looks  something  like  a  set- 
tled Country.  Several  single  Huts  are  seated  on  rich 
Spots  &  some  are  now  building  Houses  and  Apple 
Trees  are  seen  by  some  of  these  Huts.  The  River 
yet  has  its  Rapids  where  we  slide  fast  along. 

At  5  oCloc  we  entered  Ahquhaga  an  Oneida 
Town  of  15  or  16  big  Houses  on  the  East  side  and 
some  on  the  West  side  of  the  Susquehanna  just  at 
the  Moment  of  the  Transit  of  Venus,  which  Mr 
Wells  observed  with  a  Telescope  he  bought  for 
that  purpose.  We  took  our  Lodgings  with  the 
Rev.  Mr  Ebenezer  Moseley  a  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sionary 

1  In  consequence  of  the  large  accessions  made  to  its  waters  by  the  Una- 
dilla River  and  several  smaller  streams. 

64 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

sionary  from  Boston1  who  has  an  Interpreter  named 
James  Dean.  Moseley  enjoys  a  Salary  of  ^"ioo 
Sterling  and  Dean  ^50  Sterlg.  allowed  by  the  Com- 
missioners at  Boston.  The  former  has  resided  here 
3  years  and  the  latter  9  years.  Ml  Dean  says  the 
Distance  from  Ahquhaga  to  Unadella  is  25  Miles  & 
from  Ahquhaga  to  Otsiningo2  across  by  Land  18, 
and  by   Water  40,  the  River  making  a  large  Turn.3 

There  are  some  good  Islands  opposite  to  this  Vil- 
lage which  has  a  suburb  over  the  River  on  the 
Western  Side.  Here  is  a  small  wooden  Fortress 
built  some  years  ago  by  Cap'  Wells  of  Cherry  Valley 
but  now  used  as  a  Meeting  House.4 

The  Habitations  here  are  placed  straggling  with- 
out any  order  on  the  Banks.  They  are  composed  of 
clumsy  hewn  Timbers  &c  hewn  Boards  or  Planks. 
You  first  enter  an  inclosed  Shed  or  Portus  which 
serves  as  a  Wood  house  or  Ketchin  and  then  the  Body 
of  the  Edifice  consisting  of  an  Entry  thro  upon  the 
Ground  of  about  8  Feet  wide  on  each  side  whereof 
is  a  Row  of  Stalls  or  Births  resembling  those  of  Horse 
Stables,  raised  a  Foot  from  the  Earth,  3  or  4  on 
either  side  according  to  the  Size  of  the  House, 
Floored  and  inclosed  round,  except  the   Front,  and 

covered 

1  He  has  since  turned  Merchant. — R.  S. 

Mr.  Moseley  (Eleazer  was  his  first  name)  was  the  last  but  three  of  many 
missionaries  sent  to  Oghwaga  between  1748  and  1770.  The  mission  was 
maintained  by  the  Boston  commissioners  of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propa- 
gating the  Gospel.  James  Dean  in  1769  had  been  employed  there  under 
several  successive  missionaries. 

-  Oueningo  was  an  Indian  village  further  down  the  Susquehanna  near 
Binghamton. 

3  At  this  point  there  is  now  a  village  called  Great  Ben  J. 

4  This  fort  was  built  in  1756,  from  plans  prepared  in  Albany,  under 
orders  from  Sir  William  Johnson. 

65 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

covered  on  the  Top.  Each  Stall  contains  an  entire 
Family  so  that  6  or  more  families  sometimes  reside 
together,  the  Sisters  with  their  Husbands  and 
Children  uniting  while  the  Father  provides  them 
a  Habitation;  thus  Brant  &  his  Wife  did  not  lodge 
with  her  Father  who  was  a  Priest  &  a  Principal 
Man,  but  with  her  Sisters.  The  fire  is  made  in  the 
Middle  of  the  Entry  and  a  Hole  is  left  in  the  Roof 
for  the  Smoke  to  escape  for  there  is  neither  chimney 
nor  window  ;  consequently  the  place  looks  dark  and 
dismal.  The  House  is  open  as  a  Barn,  save  the  Top 
of  the  Stalls  which  serve  to  contain  their  lumber  by 
way  of  Garret.  Beams  are  fixed  Lengthways  across 
the  house,  and  on  one  of  these,  over  the  Fire,  they 
hang  their  wooden  Pot  Hooks  &  cook  their  Food. 
Furniture  they  have  little ;  the  Beds  are  dirty 
Blankets.  The  stalls  are  about  8  Feet  long  &  5 
deep  and  the  whole  House  perhaps  from  30  to  50 
Feet  in  length  by  20  wide,  filled  too  often  with 
Squalor  &  Nastiness.  Almost  every  House  has  a 
Room  at  the  End  opposite  to  the  Ketchin  serving  as 
a  larder  for  Provision ;  there  are  no  cellars.  The 
Roofs  are  no  other  than  Sheets  of  Bark  fastned 
crossways  and  inside  to  Poles  by  way  of  Rafters. 
Upon  the  Outside  are  split  Logs  which  keep  the 
Roof  on  ;  they  are  Pitch  Roofs  and  it  is  about  8  Feet 
from  the  Ground  to  the  Eves  of  the  House,  and  this 
is  said  to  be  the  general  Form  of  building  their 
Houses  and  Towns  throughout  the  6  Nations.  At 
Ahquhaga  each  house  possesses  a  paltry  Garden 
wherein  they  plant  Corn,  Beans,  Water  Melons,  Po- 
tatoes Cucumbers,  Muskmelons,  Cabbage,  French 
Turneps,     some  Apple   Trees,   Sallad,    Parsnips,    & 

66  other 


FOIR   INDIAN   POTENTATES  OF  NEW   YORK 


"  I    I  ■     >    sNkbn  HoCa   Row,   Emperor 

of  the  Six  Nations. 

(;,)  Saga  Yi  \th  Qi  \  Pn  in  Tow,  King  of 

the  Maquas,  or  Mohawks. 


Oh  Koam,    King  of  the   River 
Indians,  -  -  M 

'I'll     N  U    \  I         \       K  iw,    King 

of  the  i  Jenerethg 


From  portraits  painted  in  London  by  . 

PtttT  5 

i>n  the  margin  of  other  portraits  made  in  London  at  the  same  time,  the*--  I  -ibedas 

"the  four  kings  of  India  whoon  the  -■  May  1710  were  admitted  by  her  Majesty  the  Queen 

Britain  praying  assistance  against  the  French  in  America,  between  New  Kngland  and  Canada.'* 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

other  Plants.  There  are  now  Two  Plows  in  the 
Town  together  with  cows,  Hogs,  Fowls  and  Horses 
which  they  sell  cheap  but  they  never  had  any  Sheep, 
and  it  is  but  of  late  that  they  have  provided  Hay  for 
their  Winter  stock.  Their  Fences  are  miserable  and 
the  Land  back  of  the  village  very  indifferent.  We 
found  the  Inhabitants  civil  and  sober. 

4th  Sunday,  in  the  Morning  we  attended  Mess" 
Mosely  &  Dean  to  Divine  Service  which  was  con- 
ducted with  regularity  and  Solemnity.  They  first 
sang  a  Psalm,  then  read  a  Portion  of  Scripture  and 
after  another  Psalm  Moseley  preached  a  sermon  (in  a 
chintz  Night  Gown)  and  the  Business  was  concluded 
by  a  Third  Psalm.  The  Congregation  consisted  of 
near  ioo  Indians,  Men,  Women  and  Children  includ- 
ing the  chief  of  the  Tuscarora  Town  3  miles  below 
with  some  of  his  People  &  they  all  behaved  with 
exemplary  devotion.  The  Indian  Priest  named  Isaac 
sat  in  the  Pulpit,  and  the  Indian  clerk,  Peter,  below 
him,1  this  Clerk  repeated  the  Psalm  in  the  Oneida 
Language  and  the  people  joined  in  the  Melody  with 
Exactness  and  Skill,  the  Tunes  very  lively  &  agree- 
able. The  Sermon  delivered  in  English  was  repeated 
in  Indian  by  Dean,  sentence  by  sentence.  The  Men 
sat  on  Benches  on  one  Side  of  the  House  and  the 
Women  on  the  other.  Before  Meeting  a  Horn  is 
sounded  3  several  Times  to  give  Notice. 

Ahquhaga 

1  Isaac  Dakayenensese  and  Peter  Agwrondougwas,  whom  Elihu  Spencer 
had  converted  at  Oghwaga  during  his  work  there  in  1748.  Peter,  otherwise 
known  as  "  Good  Peter,"  was  a  chief  of  the  Oncidas.  He  was  born  on  the 
Susquehanna,  and  had  fame  as  an  orator.  He  survived  the  Revolution,  and 
in  1792  John  Trumbull  painted  a  portrait  of  him  in  miniature  which  may 
still  be  seen  at  Yale  University. 

67 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Ahquhaga  contains  about  140  Souls  and  the  Tus- 
carora  Town  about  the  same  Number.  At  the  last 
named  Place  there  is  a  Shad  Fishery  common  to  the 
people  of  Ahquhaga  also ;  they  tye  Bushes  together 
so  as  to  reach  over  the  River,  sink  them  with  Stones 
&  hawl  them  round  by  Canoes ;  all  persons  present  in- 
cluding strangers,  such  is  their  laudable  Hospitality 
have  an  equal  Division  of  the  Fish.  They  reckon 
the  Distance  from  Ahquhaga  to  Wialoosin1  100 
Miles  and  from  thence  to  Wywomoc  60,  which  last 
is  the  same  with  Wyoming. 

In  the  Afternoon  we  attended  the  Service  again  ; 
this  was  performed  by  the  Indian  Priest  in  the 
Oneida  Language.  He  began  by  a  Prayer.  Then  they 
sang  a  Psalm,  the  Tune  whereof  was  long  with  many 
Undulations,  then  a  prayer  and  a  second  Psalm,  fol- 
lowed by  an  Exhortation,  repeating  Part  of  what 
Moseley  had  said  in  the  Morning  with  his  own  Com- 
ments upon  it  and  reading  sometimes  out  of  a  Book, 
here  being  several  Books  in  the  Indian  Language/ 
He  finished  the  Service  with  a  Benediction.  He  and 
his  clerk  were  dressed  in  Blac  Coats.  Isaac  is  the 
chief  here  in  religious  affairs,  and  his  Brother  a  stout 
fat  man,  in  civil,  like  Moses  and  Aaron.  This  last 
fell  asleep  while  his  Brother  was  preaching  but 
assisted  in  singing  with  a  loud  and  hoarse  voice. 
These  Brothers  and  other  Chiefs  came  to  visit  us 
very    kindly.     Some    of  the    Women    wear    Silver 

Broaches 

1  Wyalusing,  which  means  the  home  of  the  old  warrior. 

2  In  the  original  manuscript  at  this  point  appears  the  following  in  paren- 
theses: "Mr.  Wicwise  here  to-day.  This  spring  he  bought  1,000  acres 
twenty-five  miles  below  Wyoming  of  John  Allen  for  ^500,  and  next  day 
was  offered  ^200  for  his  bargain." 

68 


v   //^  &^aO*t^   +*,j0/hr£<4  fi~/»fr 

*Wa<^  Xt'+  dittos  ^  A^2*^  ^^" 

*P^  ^T«-  ^CuA^^^f-   pfc<^)    fi*K4%<*    Jt-cao^J*    A<fv^T  ***— 
*>£n/*C    atuniiyo  <rrJO  1/^i-h  C&fr-  Art  l+jEh^ 

A  PAGE  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  MANUSCRIPT 
ILLUSTRATING,   BY  COMPARISON  WITH  THE  ADJOINING  TEXT,   THE 
CHANGES   MADE  BY  RICHARD  SMITH  I\  HIS    rRANSCRIPT 

Reproduced  in  facsimile  from  Mr.  S„: 
J.  /•>,: 


TOUR  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 

Broaches  each  of  which  passes  for  a  Shilling  and  are 
as  current  among  the  Indians  as  Money.  Brant's 
wife  had  several  Tier  of  them  in  her  Dress  to  the 
amount  perhaps  of  10  or  £15. 


69 


IV 


THE  DELAWARE;  BY  INDIAN  TRAIL  FROM  OLD 
OGHWAGA  TO  COOKOOZE  ;  THENCE  BY  CANOE  TO 
BURLINGTON,  236  MILES,  JUNE  5— JUNE   I  O,   1769 

5th  At  Nine  oCloc  We  quitted  Ahquhaga  and 
arrived  at  the  Mohawks  Branch  of  Delaware  20  Min- 
utes before  Six  having  rested  an  Hour  and  Half  at 
Dinner.1  It  is  computed  by  M!  Dean  to  be  15 
Miles  across.  MT.  Wells  conjectures  it  to  be  13  or 
14.  The  Course  along  a  blind  Indian  Path  is 
E.  S.  E.  and  the  Delaware  at  this  Place  nearly  North 
and  South  about  70  or  80  yards  over,  less  rapid  than 
most  parts  of  the  Susquehannah  &  fordable  with  a 
Stoney  Bottom  not  deeper  than  3  or  4  Feet.  Here 
are  Two  Huts  of  Delaware  Indians  who  live  most 
wretchedly,  yet  have  better  Corn  than  the  Oneidas 
&  more  of  it  being  now  4  Inches  high  and  planted 
in  a  slovenly    Manner.     The   Path   from  Ahquhaga 

to 

1  This  route  long  remained  the  chief  highway  between  the  two  rivers. 
Cookooze,  a  word  intended  to  represent  the  sound  made  by  an  owl  in  hooting, 
and  corrupted  into  Cook  House,  owes  its  present  name  of  Deposit  to  the 
fact  that  it  became  to  Susquehanna  pioneers  a  convenient  point  at  which  to 
deliver  lumber  for  shipment  down  the  Delaware;  the  Susquehanna,  because  of 
its  greater  length,  tortuous  course,  and  shallow  waters,  being  undesirable. 
Here  seventy  years  ago  was  broken  the  first  ground  for  the  Erie  Railway.  A 
monument  commemorating  that  event  was  erected  at  Deposit  in  November, 
1905.  The  name  Deposit  was  officially  adopted  in  1814.  Three  miles 
further  down  the  river  is  a  place  once  called  Cooke-ooze-Sapoze,  meaning  little 
owl's  nest.  Owls  formerly  were  numerous  in  the  dark  woods  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river  at  Deposit. 

7° 


TOUR  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

to  Cookoose,  so  is  this  place  stiled,  (the  Word  in 
the  Delaware  dialect  signifies  an  Owl)  is  in  many- 
parts  blocked  up  by  old  Trees  and  Brush  ;  the  Coun- 
try is  hilly,  but  of  very  large  Hills  there  are  only  2 
to  travel  over,  one  of  which  might  be  avoided  and 
on  the  side  of  the  other  a  Road  might  readily  be  cut. 
This  last  is  bare  of  Trees  &  affords  an  extensive  Pros- 
pect. Mr  Wells  &  myself  both  think  it  practicable 
to  make  a  good  Waggon  Road  from  one  River  to 
the  other  hereabouts. 

Our  Company,  consisted  of  Mr  Dean,  Una  the 
Mohiccon  &  James  the  Mohawk,  with  2  Horses  one 
to  carry  our  Baggage  and  one  I  rode,  for  my  Com- 
panion chose  to  walk.  We  hired  them  of  the  Indians 
at  Ahquhaga  for  a  Dollar  p  Horse  the  Trip  that  is 
one  Day  going  &  another  in  returning.  We  travelled 
slowly.  A  few  times  I  got  off  the  horse  and  led  him  : 
otherwise  tolerable  riding.  The  Oneidas  and  most 
other  Indians  are  said  to  be  extortionate  and  very 
apt  to  ask  high  Prices  especially  when  they  perceive 
a  Necessity  for  their  Assistance.  Perhaps  they 
learned  this  from  the  Dutch.  We  are  to  give  Una 
5  Dollars  for  his  service  from  Unadilla  down  to 
Cushietunk.  He  procured  a  Canoe  at  the  Delaware 
immediately  and  we  went  over  to  the  East  side  and 
encamped.  We  had  bought  a  few  curiosities  ot  In- 
dian Manufacture  at  Ahquhaga,  among  which  a  Pair 
of  embroidered  Moccisons  cost  1  o  .  Una  procured 
a  canoe  immediately  and  we  went  over  to  the  East 
side  and  encamped. 

We  found  the  first  Half  of  this  Rout  not  only 
hilly  but  full  of  stones  and  almost  barren.  As  we 
approached  the  Delaware  however  the  Lands  seemed 

71  better 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

better.  The  Timber  still  continues  to  be  chiefly- 
Beech  Hemloc,  Sugar  Maple,  Chesnut  and  a  few 
Oaks  and  Hiccories  &  others.  The  Indians  make 
Maple  Sugar  and  have  some  to  sell.  The  Delaware 
here  is  encompassed  with  Hills  each  side  but  these 
Two  Families  possess  a  good  Flat  on  the  East  Side 
and  in  their  corn  field  we  are  now  encamped.  We 
observed  today  that  the  Indians  either  thro  Acci- 
dent or  Design  have  burnt  large  Spaces  in  the  Woods. 
We  passed  a  small  Creek  at  divers  Times  which  emp- 
ties into  the  Delaware  above  the  Cookooze  &  indeed 
the  Waters  seemed  to  incline  to  this  River  for  above 
Half  Way  over.1 

6 th     It  rained  last  Night  and  this  Morng.  and  we 
recollected  the  account  of  certain  Distances  given  by 
MT.  Spencer  of  Cherry  Valley2  who  said  he  had  trav- 
elled 

1  Since  the  Commencement  of  the  present  War,  Ahquhaga  has  been  de- 
stroyed and  the  Indians  driven  entirely  away  from  Susquehanna.  A  flour- 
ishing Settlement  of  whites  at  Unadella  has  also  experienced  the  like  Cal- 
amity, wherein  great  Quantities  of  grain  perished.  This  was  before  General 
Sullivan  burned  the  Indian  Towns  between  Susquehanna  and  Niagara. — R.  S. 

Unadilla  in  1776  was  a  flourishing  white  settlement,  but  Brant  in  that 
year  drove  the  settlers  out  and  it  then  became  a  headquarters  and  base  of  sup- 
plies for  hostile  Indians  commanded  by  him.  In  the  summer  of  1778  Gov- 
ernor George  Clinton  was  informed  that  "Unadilla  has  always  been,  and 
still  continues  to  be,  a  common  receptacle  for  all  rascally  Tories  and  run-a- 
way Negroes."  Oghwaga  and  Unadilla,  where  several  hundred  of  the 
enemy  were  then  supposed  to  be  living,  was  destroyed  in  October  of  that 
year  by  Col.  William  Butler  with  some  Scotch-Irish  troops  and  a  detach- 
ment from  Morgan's  Riflemen,  in  all  260  men,  who  went  out  from  Scho- 
harie, where,  with  a  larger  force,  they  had  been  stationed.  Butler  found  both 
places  deserted,  and  everything  "  in  the  greatest  disorder,"  indicating  a  speedy 
flight.  He  burned  the  two  settlements, — not  only  the  houses,  but  their  con- 
tents, and  upwards  of  4,000  bushels  of  grain,  taking  back  with  him  49 
horses  and  52  horned  cattle.  He  described  Oghwaga  as  "the  finest  Indian 
town  I  ever  saw." 

2  Thomas  Spencer,  a  half  breed,  who  was  famous  as  an  orator  and  served 
as  interpreter  on  the  patriot  side,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Oriskany. 

72 


TOUR  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

elled  this  Rout,  namely,  from  Otego  to  Unadella  26 
Miles,  to  Cunnahunta  16,  to  Ahquhaga  12,  to 
Cookoose  12,  to  the  Forks  of  Popaghton  15,  to 
Cushietunk  20,  to  the  Minisinks  40,  Length  of  the 
Minisinks  40,  to  Durham  44,  in  all  225  miles.  We 
paid  James  the  Mohawk  half  a  Dollar  p  Day.  The 
Indian  Custom,  probably  derived  from  the  Dutch, 
is  to  be  paid  for  the  time  of  returning  as  well  as 
going.1 

6th  June.  At  Half  after  6  oCloc  we  departed  from 
Cookoose  down  the  Delaware.  At  Half  after  9 
oCloc  we  came  to  the  Mouth  of  Popaghton.2  At  4 
oCloc  we  reached  the  first  Settlement3  in  Cheshietunk4 
and  at  5  oCloc  we  came  to  the  Station  Point  be- 
tween N.  York  and  N.  Jersey.  Popaghton  is  about 
as  large  as  the  Mohawks  Branch,  which  to  Cushie- 
tunk is  in  general  not  so  crooked  as  the  Susque- 
hannah  and  has  a  stony  Bottom  mostly  shallow  so  that 
in  some  Places  our  Canoe  could  just  conveniently 
pass  over,  but  by  the  marks  on  the  Shore  the  Water 
is  sometimes  3  or  4  Feet  higher.  The  Navigation  at 
present  is  pretty  good,  but  when  the  water  is  very 
low  perhaps  impracticable. 

There  is  a  Range  of  high   Hills  on  either  Hand 

from 

1  In  the  original  manuscript,  but  not  in  the  transcript,  is  this  statement  : 

"  To-morrow  they  [begin  to]  open  a  wagon  road  from  Cushietunk  to 
Sopus,  70  miles.    Sopus  is  their  best  way  to  market." 

-  Here  now  stands  the  village  of  Hancock,  its  Indian  name,  Chehocton(in 
a  Hardenberg  deed  of  1 7 5  I ,  the  place  is  called  Shokakeen),  being  a  Dela- 
ware word  meaning  the  union  of  streams,  or  the  confluence.  In  early  times 
it  was  written  Shehaw  kin. 

3  This  point  was  probably  about  where  Callicoon  now  is.  Callicoon, 
which  on  a  map  of  1828  is  written  Kolli  Kolen,  has  been  derived  from  a 
Delaware  word  Gulukocksoon,  meaning  a  turkey. 

*  Now  written  Cochecton,  which  means  low  ground. 

73 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

from  Cookoose  to  Popaghton  and  some  small  Pieces 
of  good  low  Land  here  and  there,  but  from  the  latter 
down  to  Cushietunk  hardly  any,  for  it  is  all  hilly, 
stoney,  broken,  barren  and  little  worth.  The  Timber 
down  to  Popaghton  is  mostly  Beech,  Maple,  Hemloc, 
Butternut  &  Buttonwood  and  from  thence  not  so 
much  Beech  and  Butternut.  We  agree  that  the 
Delaware  cannot  compare  with  the  Susquehannah  for 
good  Land;  nor  is  the  Timber  much  more  than 
Half  as  tall.  We  observed  several  Ducks  with  their 
young  Broods  so  that  they  breed  in  this  River. 

Cushietunk  contains  16  or  17  Farms  of  which  4 
or  5  only  are  beyond  the  Rock  on  Station  Point. 
The  Mohawks  Branch  tend  up  N.  and  Popaghton 
N.  E.;  there  is  a  small  Quantity  of  good  Land  at 
Station  Point  and  at  the  Mouth  of  Popaghton.  The 
Islands  in  the  River  are  all  good.  We  did  not  stop 
to  dine  and  came  down  on  an  average  between  4  & 
5  Miles  an  Hour,  but  went  on  shore  at  Station  Point 
where  the  River  bears  (I  have  forgot  the  Bearing  as 
well  as  the  Inscription  on  the  Rock).1  There  is  no 
Trace  of  a  Settlement  all  the  Way  from  Cookoose 
to  Cushietunk2  but  several  pretty  Cascades  down  the 
Mountains  into  the  River  and  they  tell  us  That  no 
Boats  larger  than  Batteaux  have  ever  gone  down  the 
River  from  Cushietunk  on  Account  of  the  Falls. 

yth  we  discharged  Una  who  was  desirous  of  re- 
turning 

1  This  is  a  reference  to  the  point  of  land  made  by  a  sharp  bend  in  the 
river  to  the  northwest  just  above  Cochecton  Village.  It  forms  with  the  land  an 
isosceles  triangle  of  which  the  sides  are  about  one  mile  in  length.  Across  the 
river  in  New  Jersey  are  the  Cushietunk  Mountains,  near  which  the  Connecticut 
folk  made  their  settlement  in  1757. 

2  Decker,  whom  "  Dorn  a  Dutchman"  found  at  the  mouth  of  the  East 
Branch  ten  years  before,  had  obviously  died  or  moved  away. 

74 


TOUR  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

turning  and  hired  a  Bazileel  Tyler  to  take  us  down, 
having  purchased  a  Canoe  here  for  40/.  We  set  off 
from  Cushietunk  at  Six  oCloc  and  stopt  at  Shehola 
Creek1  called  Half  Way,  at  y2  after  1 2  to  dine. 
We  gave  Una  provisions  for  his  Return  besides  the 
5  Dollars  and  we  parted  mutually  satisfied  he  being 
an  expert  Navigator  tho  perhaps  he  never  saw  a  Ship 
or  a  Sail ;  he  could  not  speak  English. 

We  afterwards  passed  a  considerable  Creek  run- 
ning in  from  the  Westward  called  Lacwac  (in  Gib- 
son's Map  Lechawacsein2)  &  approached  within  1 2 
Yards  of  a  large  Blac  She  Bear  and  her  Two  Cubs 
feeding  on  the  Shore.  Mr  Wells  fired  at  and 
wounded  her  &  we  pursued  her  into  the  Woods 
without  Effect.  The  Lands  all  the  Way  from  Station 
Point  hither  are  miserable  affording  only  short 
scrubby  Timber,  no  Flats,  Hills,  Rocks,  and  Stones 
in  plenty  &  but  one  or  Two  Inhabitants. 

At  y2  after  5  we  arrived  at  the  First  House  in  the 
Minisinks  where  we  stopt  to  make  Oars  for  our 
Canoe  having  poled  it  all  the  Way  from  Cookoose 
writh  a  little  Help  from  a  Paddle.  We  saw  upon 
the  Shore  2  Deer  &  7  Wild  Turkies  but  our  Gun 
flashed  in  the  Pan.  The  Lands  from  Schehola  to 
the  Minisinks  continue  bad  with  many  high  Rocks 
by  Way  of  Banks  similar  to  the  rocky  shore  of 
Bergen.  One  of  the  highest  we  supposed  to  be  400 
Feet.  The  River  from  Cushietunk  is  full  of  Rifts 
and  long  Falls  thro  which  the  Canoe  was  con- 
ducted   safely    and     dexterously    by    our    Skipper. 

We 

1  Shoholaisthe  present  form  of  this  word,  Shohola  Glen  being  a  popular  resort. 

2  Lackawaxen,  which  means  forks  of  the  road. 

75 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

We  passed  by  a  Creek  called  Mangap1  (not  marked 
on  the  Maps). 

We  are  now  of  opinion  that  it  will  be  impractic- 
able to  transport  the  Produce  of  Otego  this  way  to 
Advantage  because  of  these  Rifts.  We  saw  but  two 
Small  Settlements  between  Cushietunk  and  the  Mini- 
sinks  and  no  Place  fit  for  another.  The  Upper  part 
of  the  Minisinks  trades  to  Sopus  and  the  lower  to 
Philad3  The  Timber  seen  this  Afternoon  is  like  the 
rest  low  and  scrubby  and  includes  the  White  Pine 
Oak  and  Maple.  At  this  upper  part  of  the  Mini- 
sinks  the  River  is  about  200  yards  over.  We  learn 
that  the  Jersey  Surveyors  lately  appointed  to  run  the 
Line  in  Conjunction  with  the  York  Surveyors  between 
the  Two  Provinces  were  here  and  as  far  as  Popagh- 
ton  last  Week.  They  found  that  from  Peter  Kiken- 
dahls  the  Upper  End  of  Minisinks  to  the  Station  Point 
measured  43%  Miles  and  from  the  Station  Point 
Rock  to  Shehawkin  or  the  Mouth  of  Popaghton  was 
31^2.  From  Kikendahls  to  Justice  Rosecrants  they 
reckon  30  Miles. 

8th  We  lodged  last  Night  at  Peter  Kikendahls.2 
He  had  good  Beds  but  we  chose  our  Bear  Skins  as 
usual.  There  is  a  tolerable  Farm  and  the  first  we 
have  seen  for  some  Time  past.  Here  the  Hills  on  the 
River  open  to  the  right  and  left  and  let  in  some  good 
Flats.  We  found  here  a  Number  of  Eels  and  large 
Lampreys  taken  in  one  of  the  Eel  pots.  They  have 
a  Shad  Fishery  so  high  up  as  Cushietunk. 

We 

1  Now  written  Mongaup,  a  stream  ofconsiderable  size  with  three  branches 
flowing  into  the  Delaware  from  the  north  about  five  miles  above  Port  Jervis. 
The  word  means  several  streams. 

2  Now  Port  Jervis. 

76 


TOUR  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

We  quitted  Mr  Kikendahls  at  7  oCloc  and  in 
i^H  Hours  reached  one  Otters  18  Miles  above 
Easton,  stopt  one  Hour  at  Dinner.  Mr  Wells  and 
myself  rowed  all  the  Way  being  52  Miles.  The 
Lands  along  the  Minisinks  are  not  so  rich  as  I  ex- 
pected ;  very  little  Meadow  is  visible,  the  Ground 
rather  fit  for  the  Plow  and  somewhat  sandy  like  ours 
about  Burlington  &  accordiugly  they  raise  more  rye 
than  wheat.  Not  many  Houses  are  to  be  seen  and 
those  quite  mean,  the  Flats  in  many  places  narrow 
flanked  still  by  the  Range  of  Hills.  The  Islands  are 
low  &  level,  but  the  Bushes  so  thick  round  them  that 
we  could  not  discover  how  far  they  were  improved. 
Samuel  Depue  has  a  good  place. 

In  the  Evening  we  passed  thro  the  Water  Gap 
being  the  Passage  between  the  Kittatinny1  or  Blue 
Mountains  which  are  here  very  lofty  and  craggy;  the 
Trees  on  their  Tops  appeared  as  Shrubs.  The  Spec- 
tacle was  grand  and  worthy  of  a  particular  Descrip- 
tion but  neither  the  Time  or  our  Situation  admitted  of 
it.  One  Dunfy  lives  on  a  narrow  Point  at  the  Foot 
of  the  Mountains  which  surround  him  in  such  a 
Manner  that  he  cannot  stir  from  his  House  but 
by  Water. 

The  Soil  of  Sussex  as  far  as  we  have  seen  is  hilly, 
stony  broken  and  indifferent;  it  is  the  same  on  the 
Pennsylvania  side.  The  Timber  is  now  the  same  as 
ours  Oak  and  Hickory,  Chesnut  and  Maple  but 
shrubby  6c  not  fit  for  Sawing  for  the  most  Part. 
We  had  a   Glimpse  of  the   late    Col.   Van   Camps 

Place 

aThis  word  has  been  referred  to    the  similar  word  Kittating, 
meaning  great  mountain  or  endless  hills. 

77 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Place1  below  Walpack ;  he  has  a  good  share  of  even 
Land  and  a  Range  of  swelling  Hills  proper  for  Sheep 
Pasture  as  much  of  all  this  Country  would  be  if  it 
was  cultivated. 

9th  The  Rifts  from  Kikendahls  are  less  frequent 
than  from  Cushietunk  thither.  Leaving  Otters2  at  7 
oCloc  we  passed  thro  the  Wind  Gap  and  stopt  at 
Easton  to  drink  some  Punch  and  get  shaved.  The 
Country  now  becomes  less  hilly  except  about  the 
Wind  Gap  above  Easton  where  there  is  a  Range  of 
small  Mountains  not  so  large  as  the  Kittatinny — 
they  say  that  Lewis  Gordon  of  Easton  is  Ferryman, 
Tavern  Keeper  Lawyer,  Clerk  of  the  Court  and 
Justice  of  the  Peace — we  found  the  Foul  Rift  rather 
more  turbulent  than  the  rest.  Opposite  to  Durham 
we  dined  &  saw  only  2  houses  at  the  Mouth  of  Dur- 
ham Creek.  Musconetcung3  which  divides  Hunter- 
don from  Sussex  is  about  a  Mile  above.  A  hand- 
some Court  House  is  lately  built  at  Easton. 

From  Durham  downwards  we  had  the  Pleasure  of 
viewing  the  improved  Plantations  in  Hunterdon  and 
Buck's  Counties.  Adam  Hoops  has  several  Mills  in 
Sufsex  and  Thos  Riche  a  Country  House  in  Hunter- 
don, opposite  to  which  is  another  House  pleasantly 
situated ;  this  we  find  a  hot  day.  We  saw  many  of 
those  long  vessels  called  Durham  Boats  so  useful  to 

the 


1  One  of  the  forts  shown  on  the  "  American  Military  Pocket  Atlas  "  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1776  for  the  use  of  the  British  army  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War. 

2  Otter's  appears  to  have  been  what  is  now  Manunka  Chunk. 

3  Five  miles  below  Easton  flows  into  the  Delaware  the  River  Musconetcung 
which  has  its  lower  courses  between  the  Pohatcongand  Musconetcung  Moun- 
tains. 


78 


TOUR  OF  THE  DELAWARE 

the  Upper  Parts  of  the  River  and  have  passed  fewer 
Rifts  since  we  left  Easton.  In  the  Evening  Mr  Tyler 
went  home  and  we  lodged  with  Edward  Marshall 
who  lives  on  an  Island  35  Miles  above  Trenton 
which  Island  his  Father  bought  of  the  Indians  and 
he  now  holds  it  independent  of  any  Government. 

This  Marshal  is  the  Man  who  performed  the 
famous  Walk1  for  the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylv3  in 
1733,  for  which  as  he  tells  us,  he  has  never  yet  recd 
any  Reward.  He  has  been  a  great  Traveller  about 
the  back  Parts.  He  avers  that  on  the  Top  of  the 
Blue  Mountains,  a  Mile  from  the  Water  Gap,  on  the 
Jersey  side  there  are  Two  Lakes,  one  of  which  con- 
tains above  700  acres  of  clear  Rock  Water  well 
stored  with  Red  Perch,  Sun  Fish  and  other  Fish 
with  a  gravelly  Bottom  and  no  visible  Outlet,  and 
that  there  is  likewise  on  that  Mountain  a  Spring 
from  which  oozes  out  a  Scum  being  when  burnt  a 
good  red  or  brown  Paint  according  to  the  degree  of 
burning  and  that  great  Quantities  of  it  are  taken 
away  and  used  as  such  by  the  Indians.  He  thinks 
this  comes  from  a  large  bed  of  copper  ore  and  that 
there  are  now  many  Cartloads  of  that  Paint  on  the 
Spot.  We  remarked  today  that  the  Descent  of  the 
Waters  in  the  River  is  visible  in  divers  Places  owing 
to  the  considerable  Fall  or  Slope  of  the  Country. 

10th  We  engaged  one  Newman,  Son  in  Law  to 
Marshal,  to  pilot  us  down  to  Trenton;  went  orf  at 
5  oCloc  and  breakfasted  at  Corryels  Ferry.  We 
gave  Bazileel  Tyler  6  Dollars  for  bringing  us  down 

from 

1  A  reference  to  the  Walking  Purchase,  already  described 
in  the  Introduction. 

79 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

from  Cushietunk  to  Marshals.  We  learn  that  the 
Freight  of  a  Bushel  of  Wheat  from  Marshals  to 
Philad2  is  jA  from  Easton  to  Philada  od  and  from  the 
Minisinks  i/.  For  a  Barrel  of  Flour  from  Marshals 
2/.  from  Easton  2/6.  (the  Freight  of  a  Bushel  of 
Wheat  from  Sussex  to  Burlington  used  to  be  6d). 
Before  1 2  oCloc  we  came  to  Trenton  and  from 
thence  M'  Wells  and  myself  continued  our  Course 
to  Burlington  where  we  arrived  in  the  Afternoon, 
having  come  today  51  Miles  and  we  had  the  Satis- 
faction to  find  our  Families  in  good  Health. 


80 


V 

A    TABLE    OF    DISTANCES 

Rout  taken  by  Messr.3  Welles  and  Smith  Biddle 
Ridgway  and  Hicks  in  May  and  continued  by  the 
Two  Former  in  June  1769. 

Miles 

From  Burlington  to  New  York  over  Paulus 

Hook  Ferry 75 

To  Albany  by  Water 164 

(By  land  157) 
To  the  Mouth  of  the  Mohawk  River         ...      7 

To  the  Cahoes 5 

To  Schenectady 16 

(From  Albany  to  Schenectady  along  the 

usual  Road  17) 
To  Sir  John  Johnson's,  Knight  &  Bar1     .      .      .    17 
To  Col.  Fry's  on  the  Mohawk  River        .      .      .21 
To  Major  Wells's  in  Cherry  Valley      .      .      .      .12 
To  Capc  Prevoost's  at  the  Head  of  Lake  Otsego   .      9 

A  Waggon  Road  all  the  Way.1  326 

From  Capc  Prevoost's  to  Col.   Croghans  the 

Foot  of  Lake  Otsego 8  or  9 

To  the  Upper  Corner  of  the   Otego  Tract 

down  the  River  Susquehannah      .      .      .      .20 

To 

1  By  this  the  author  only  means  all  the  way  from  Albany  to   the 
head  of  Lake  Otsego. 

8l 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

To  the  Mouth  of  Otego  Creek 24 

To  the  Mouth  of  Unadella 16 

(Here  was  a  small  village  of  Mohiccons.) 
To  Cunnahunta  on  the  Great  Island      .      .      .16 
(Here  was  a  small  Oneida  village.) 

To  Ahquhaga 12 

(an  Oneida  Town  of  140  souls) 
Here  we  crossed  over  along  a  blind  Indian 
Path  to  Cookooze  on  the  Mohawk  Branch 
of  Delaware.  Cookoose  is  a  Settlem*  of 
Two  Families  of  the  Delaware  Nation, 
the  only  Indians  remaining  on  the  River 

Delaware 

From  Cookoose  to  Shehawkin  or  the  Mouth 

of  Popaghton  Branch 15 

To  Cushietunk  or  Station  Point  as  measured 

lately  by  the  Jersey  Surveyors        .      .      .   3 1  % 
To    Peter   Kikendahl's   the   Upper   End   of 

Minisinks  as  measured  by  do 43^ 

Length  of  the  Minisinks 40 

To  Easton 30 

To  Edward  Marshals  on  an  Island   ....   27 

To  Trenton 35 

To  Burlington 16 

238 
In  all 

Round  to  the  Lake  Otsego 326 

down  that  Lake  and  the  Susquehannah       .         97 
from  Susquehannah  across  to  Delaware       .  1 5 

down  the  Delaware 238 

Total  Miles,      676 

82 


VI 


NOTES    ON    THE   MANNERS  AND   CUSTOMS  OF  THE 
INDIANS 

Lower  down  on  and  near  the  Susquehannah  there 
are  yet  remaining  several  Towns  of  various  Tribes 
as  Onondagoes  Tuscarora's  Nanticokes  Delawares 
Shawanese  and  others  but  these  will  all  doubtle^  be 
wormed  out  in  a  few  years  by  the  Whites  and  the 
Indians  obliged  to  retire  beyond  the  Lakes.  The 
Indians  settled  in  the  Neighborhood  of  the  English 
are  Known,  from  whatever  cause,  to  decrease  fast 
and  probably  distant  Posterity  will  peruse  as  Fables 
the  accounts  which  may  be  handed  down  of  the 
present  Customs  of  the  Aborigines  of  North  Amer- 
ica. I  was  desirous  of  procuring  some  Intelligence 
of  their  Manners  and  Usages  but  had  little  oppor- 
tunity and  less  Time  and  Leisure  to  learn  any  Thing 
very  material. 

They  are  extremelv  lazy  and  indolent,  take  little 
care  today  for  the  sustenance  of  Tomorrow  and  are 
therefore  often  in  want  of  Food  and  other  N 
saries  for  which  their  Idleness  makes  them  always 
dependent  on  their  more  provident  Neighbors. 
Cloathing  they  use  but  little,  sometimes  a  Shirt  or 
Shift  with  a  Blanket  or  Coat,  a  Half-Gown  and  Petti- 
coat, and  sometimes  the  latter  only  without  Linen. 
Woolen  Boots  and  Leather  Moccisons  compleat  the 

83  Dre>s 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

Dress  of  the  common  sort  unless,  which  is  rare,  they 
possess  a  Hat  or  some  other  Covering  for  the  Head. 
Some  of  the  Chiefs,  however,  imitate  the  English 
Mode  and  Joseph  Brant  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  blue 
Broad  Cloth  as  his  Wife  was  in  a  Callicoe  or  Chintz 
Gown.  They  frequently  sleep  naked  &  divers  of  the 
younger  sort  drefs  gaily  in  their  Way,  some  of  both 
sexes  using  Bobs  and  Trinkets  in  their  Ears  and 
Noses,  Bracelets  on  their  Arms  and  Rings  on  their 
Fingers.  Every  Man  and  Woman  are  Physicians 
for  themselves  or  give  their  Advice  gratis  to  others. 

As  they  raise  no  Sheep  or  Flax  and  make  no  Iron 
so  they  weave  no  Cloth  but  rough  drefs  Deerskins 
for  their  Moccisons  and  depend  upon  the  Whites 
for  Metallic  and  other  Manufactures.  They  subsist 
chiefly  by  their  Indian  Corn,  esculent  Vegetables  and 
by  their  Deer  &  Beaver  Hunting,  and  last  Year  the 
Corn  failing  in  great  Measure  they  lived  thro  the 
Winter  and  Spring  on  the  Money  received  at  the 
Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  last  October  for  the  sale  of 
their  Lands.  They  were  continually  passing  up  to 
the  Settlements  to  buy  Provisions  and  sometimes 
shewed  us  money  in  their  Bosoms. 

Their  government  is  known  to  be  democratic, 
deviating  but  little  from  a  State  of  Nature.  Courts 
and  Ministers  of  Justice  they  have  none,  to  Law  and 
Lawyers  they  are  strangers,  nor  are  Crimes  often 
committed.  Debts  and  Theft  seem  to  be  almost  un- 
known among  them,  Property  being  in  some  Degree 
common  to  all.  I  had  the  Curiosity  to  ask  an  In- 
dian what  was  their  Method  of  recovering  Debts ; 
he  answered  "  We  go  to  the  Debtor  and  take  away 
his  Gun  or  any  Thing  we  can  find  belonging  to  him." 

84  In 


INDIAN  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

In  their  Towns  they  are  generally  sober  and  quiet, 
but  among  the  white  People  their  Propensity  to 
Drunkenness  is  too  well  known ;  in  that  state  they 
are  noisy  and  troublesome. 

The  authority  of  the  Chiefs  is  said  to  descend  to 
the  Eldest  Son,  but  they  are  deposed  at  the  pleasure 
of  their  Townsmen  for  Insufficiency  or  Absence  or 
other  cause.  The  Chief  of  Ahquhaga  in  Civil  Affairs 
when  I  was  there,  had  removed  to  another  Town 
and  was  therefore  deprived  of  his  Post,  but  happen- 
ing to  return  he  was  reinstated.  Pride  and  Envy 
are  to  be  found  here  as  elsewhere  for  some  of  the 
Townsmen  being  piqued  at  the  Authority  exercised 
by  the  Chief  Priest  refused  to  attend  divine  service 
under  his  Administration  tho  his  Conduct  and  De- 
portment appeared  to  be  regular  and  inoffensive. 

The  Domination  Civil  or  Ecclesiastical  seems 
not  to  be  of  the  Coercive  kind,  the  Custom  being 
for  those  who  have  recd  an  injury  to  complain  to  the 
Chief  who  represents  to  the  Agressor  the  Hein- 
ousness  of  his  Crime  and  generally  procures  Satisfac- 
tion to  the  Party  injured,  but  if  he  cannot  succeed 
then  the  Party  redresses  Himself  in  the  best  Manner 
he  can.  And  in  cases  of  Murder  if  the  Murderer  is 
killed  ever  so  many  years  after  or  ever  so  treacher- 
ously it  is  esteemed  by  the  Nation  as  an  Act  of  Jus- 
tice &  applauded  accordingly. 

Marriage  is  performed  by  a  Clergyman  either 
White  or  Indian  where  there  happens  to  be  one. 
Whilst  we  are  at  Ahquhaga  a  young  Mohawk  and 
his  handsome  Bride  about  15,  were  there  on  a  visit 
to  her  Relations.  They  had  been  married  but  Two 
Weeks  and  the  Courtship  was  thus  as  we  were  informed 

85  by 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

by  Mr  Dean  the  Interpreter:  the  young  Fellow  had 
been  there,  saw  the  Girl  and  liked  Her,  but  said 
Nothing  then.  After  he  got  home  to  Conejoharie 
above  an  ioo  miles  distant,  he  sent  her  a  Letter,  for 
some  of  the  Indians  tho  they  cannot  speak  English 
can  write  their  own  Language  very  well;  the  Sub- 
stance of  the  Letter  was  that  he  fancied  her  for  a 
Wife  and  if  she  approved  the  Proposal  she  might 
come  to  Him  at  such  a  Time  and  be  married,  and 
she  and  her  Friends  accepted  the  Offer  accordingly. 
I  did  not  hear  what  is  the  Mode  of  Burial  but  pre- 
sume it  differs  not  much  from  ours. 

Their  chief  amusement  seems  to  be  Smoaking, 
Conversation  &  Hunting.  They  use  long  Pipes 
with  Wooden  Stems  &  Stone  Boles  large  &  clumsy. 
They  are  ingenious  at  making  Belts,  embroidering 
Moccassons  &  Garments  with  Wampum.  As  they 
work  little  they  consequently  demand  high  Prices  for 
their  Labor.1  * 

1  The  illustration  showing  Indian  relics  on  the  adjoining  page,  was  made 
from  objects  collected  by  Willard  E.  Yager,  of  Oneonta.  Mr.  Yager  has 
what  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  important  Indian  collections  in  the  state. 
Several  years  ago  he  formed  another  large  collection,  but  it  was  entirely  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  I  894,  when  the  State  Normal  School  buildings  at  Oneonta 
were  burned.  Mr.  Yager  began  the  present  collection  in  1903,  his  purpose 
being  to  illustrate  Indian  life  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Susquehanna  from 
Otsego  Lake  to  Great  Bend,  and  including  the  adjacent  hillsides  to  the  divide 
between  the  Susquehanna  and  the  Delaware  on  the  east  and  the  Chenango 
on  the  west.  This  territory,  which  was  occupied  in  the  historic  period  by 
the  Iroquois,  in  earlier  times  jwas  the  home  of  other  Indians  of  the  same 
family  who  are  classed  as  Conestogas  or  Susquehannas. 

Mr.  Yager's  collection  now  numbers  about  2,500  objects,  selected  from 
four  or  five  times  that  number  as  brought  to  light  and  preserved  by  various 
persons  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  Care  has  been  taken  by  him 
to  identify  and  fix  the  history  of  each  specimen.  Nearly  every  kind  of  In- 
dian artefact  known  to  students  is  well  represented.  The  collection  is  par- 
ticularly rich  in  specimens  of  flint  and  pottery  and  is  housed  in  a  building 
especially  built  for  the  purpose. 

86 


-  =  -   / 

-  :     =    ~ 


z 

<  •= 

I 
\ 

z 


z 

-    .-      ■ 
...     ■-     : 


^    ._ 


INDIAN  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

At  Ahquhaga  &  other  Towns  seen  by  me,  they 
have  Horses,  Cows,  Hogs,  and  Poultry,  make  Butter 
and  Maple  Sugar,  bake  their  Bread  in  the  Ashes  with- 
out yeast  and  have  the  Discretion  to  keep  Rum  by 
them  in  their  Houses  and  take  it  in  moderation. 
They  are  faithful  in  what  they  undertake,  have  sharp 
Eyesight,  susprising  Knowledge  of  the  Woods,  are 
expert  in  hunting,  fishing,  managing  Canoes,  and  in 
whatever  else  they  have  been  conversant. 

They  know  Nothing  yet  of  Hours  or  Miles  but 
point  to  the  Sun  as  to  say  they  will  perform  such  a 
Journey  by  that  Time  the  Sun  is  in  such  a  Position 
counting  their  Fingers  for  Days  and  using  notched 
sticks  for  Almanacs,  and  cannot  therefore  express 
with  any  Accuracy  the  Distance  of  Time  or  Place. 

Of  their  Origin  I  never  could  learn  any  satisfac- 
tory Account.  Some  Authors  and  Wm  Penn  among 
the  rest,  misled  by  theological  Prejudices,  have  sup- 
posed them  to  be  descended  from  the  Ten  captivated 
Tribes  of  Jews,  an  absurd  Chimaera  unworthy  of  the 
American  Lycurgus ;  others  with  more  Probability 
adopt  the  Idea  of  a  Passage  from  the  N.  E.  Parts  of 
Asia  to  the  N.  W.  Regions  of  America  thro  which 
some  Tartars  may  have  transmigrated  in  remote  Ages, 
whose  Posterity  in  procefs  of  Time  became  dispersed 
throughout  this  immense  Wilderness.  But  Writers 
are  not  wanting  who  reject  this  Hypothesis  and  con- 
tend that  the  Africans,  Americans  and  Whites  were 
originally  created  upon  their  own  Soil. 

For  Religion,  the  distant  Savages  unconnected 
with  Christians  are  said  neither  to  profess  or  practice 
anv.  And  it  may  well  be  doubted  notwithstanding 
all  that  has  been  written  whether  any  Form  of  W  or- 

87  ship 


FOUR  GREAT  RIVERS 

ship  was  in  use  or  any  clear  Ideas  of  the  Deity  im- 
pressed on  their  minds  anterior  to  the  Arrival  of 
Europeans  here.  Those  of  Ahquhaga  follow  the 
Presbyterian  Mode  of  Worship  because  a  Minister  of 
that  Persuasion  has  happened  to  be  established  there. 
They  understand  Psalmody  very  well,  and  tho  they 
attend  very  seriously  to  the  Preacher,  English  or  In- 
dian, yet  the  Matter  of  the  Sermon  makes  as  little 
Impression  on  their  Lives  and  Conversations  as  Ser- 
mons usually   do    on  politer  Congregations. 

Some  other  Particulars  with  their  Manner  of  Build- 
ing Towns  and  Houses  have  been  occasionally  men- 
tioned in  the  foregoing  Notes  which  were  taken  on 
the  Spot  Currente  Calamo.  As  to  the  rest,  having 
often  visited  the  Whites  their  Manners  seem  to  differ 
little  from  those  of  our  lower  Class  of  People.1 

1  The  manuscript  from  which  Mr.  Smith's  Journal  has  here  been  put  into 
type — the  same,  as  already  stated,  being  the  George  H.  Moore  copy — has  at 
this  point  the  following  memorandum: 

"  (Copy  taken  for  the  use  of  M.  Du  Simitiere  in  October,  1780.)  [by 
the  hon.  Richard  Smith,  of  Burlington,  Esquire.]" 

The  modern  character  of  the  paper  on  which  the  Moore  copy  was  written 
indicates  that  it  is  not  identical  with  the  Du  Simitiere  copy,  but  that  it  is  a 
transcript  from  it.  The  comparison  made  by  the  editor  between  it  and 
the  original  first  draft,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Coad,  however,  has  fully 
authenticated  the  text  of  the  Journal  as  printed  here. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Adaquetinge  River,  the,  58 

Addison,  Joseph,  37 

Afton  (N.  Y.),  63 

Aikin  (N.  Y.j,  25 

Akery   (N.  Y.),  31 

Albany,  settlement  of,  xxvii ; 
trading  post  at,  xl ;  a  ren- 
dezvous for  troops,  1 ;  sloops 
that  sail  to  and  from,  4 ; 
sloops  at,  9;  road  to 
from  New  York,  9 ;  meadow 
lands  near,  15;  the  town 
described,  16-18;  departure 
from,  19;  lands  and  timber 
near,  21,  62,  81 

Albany  County,  xxxii,  xlviii, 

11,17 
Allegheny  River,  the.  xyi 
Allegheny   Mountains,   the,  47 
Allen,  John,  68 
"American  Military  Pocket 

Atlas."  the,  lxix.'  78 
Amsterdam    (N.  Y.),  xlix,   17 
Andrews,  William,  xlii 
Andros,  Governor,  xliii 
Anthony's  Nose,  xxxv 
Anti-rent  war,  21 
Arnold,  Benedict,  24 
Atlantic  City  1  X.  T.).  lxiv 
Auriesville  (  X.  Y.),  xli 

Bacon.  E.  M.,  xxix 
Banyar,  Gouldsborough,  62 
Barclay.  Henry,  xhii 
Batavia  (N.Y.),  31 

Battery,  the.  xxyi 


Bear's  Island,  14 
Beekman,  Colonel,  xxxii 
Beekman  Manor,  xxxv 
Belcher,  Governor,  Ixviii 
Beletre,  — ,  1 
Bellomont,  Earl  of,  Governor, 

xxxii,  xliy 
Bethlehem   (Penn.),  road  to 

from  Wyoming,  57 
Biddle,    Joseph,     3 ;     and    the 

Otego    survey,    40,    44,  50, 
.58.  81 
Binghamton  (X.Y.),  57.  65 
Border  Wars,  the.  on  the  New 

York   frontier,  xviii,  lix,   lx, 

53.  60 

Boston,  xxiv 

Bowling  Green,  xxiii 

Braddock,   General    Edward,   1, 
hi ;  defeat  of,  lx\iii 

P.radstreet.  General  John,   1 5 

Bradt.  Arent,  Ivii 

Brainard,  David,  l\'i 

Brant,  Joseph;  his  father,  xyii, 
22:  ami  Colonel  Glaus ;  de- 
stroys German  Flats,  27 ; 
destmys  Springfield,  20:  at 
the  Cherry  Valley  massacre. 
30-31  :  his  early  li  I 
Sleeper's  nous 

by   Mr.  Smith  as  guide,  4- : 
builds    a    hark    cai 
finds      a      rattlesnake. 
starts  with   Mr.  Smith  down 
the  Susquehanna,     58:     his 
farm  at  Canajoharie,  60;  ill- 


91 


INDEX 


ness  of,  62 ;  at  Oghwaga,  56, 

84 
Brant,    Mrs.    Joseph,    49,    58; 

her  silver  ornaments,  69 
Brant,  Molly,  22 
Break  Neck  Mountain,  7 
Brekabean  (N.Y.),  37 
Bressani,  Joseph,  xli 
Broadhead,  John  H.,  xxxi 
Broken  Neck  Hill,  7 
Brown,  John,  xix 
Brunswick  (N.  J.),  3 
Bruyar,  the  missionary,  liii 
Bucks  County  (Penn.),  78 
Buell,   Augustus   C,  liv,   lxiii, 

lxv 
Burlington    (N.  J.),   home    of 

Mr.    Smith,    xiv;     founded, 

lxiii ;    lxiv,    3,    30,    36,    jy ; 

arrival  at,  80,  81 
Burlington  Creek,  39,  40 
Burnet,   Governor,   xlv;   sends 

men  to  Oghwaga,  lv 
Burns's  Tavern,  3 
Butler,  John,  a  grant  of  land 

to,  xvii,  lx 
Butler,  Walter  N.,  30 
Butler,  Colonel  William,  72 
Butter  Hill,  7 
Butternut  Creek,  grant  of  land 

on,  xvii,  42 


Callicoon  (N.Y.),  73 
Camden  (N.  J.),  lxii 
Campbell,  Mr.,  60 
Canada  Creek,  li 
Canadurango  Lake,  lvii,  38,  48 
Canajoharie,     li,     28;     Brant's 

farm  at,  60 
Carr,  Percefer,  lix 
Carryel's  Ferry,  79 
Cartwright's  Tavern,  16 
Castle  Philipse,  5 
Castleton  (N.Y.),  7 


Catawbas,  the,  47 
Catskill  Creek,  xxx,  12 
Catskill  (N.  Y.),  6,  31;  wagon 

road  to,  37 
Catskill  and  Susquehanna 

Turnpike,  40 
Catskill  Landing,  12 
Catskill  Mountains,  7,  9,  13 
Chamberlain,  Theophilus,  60 
Champlain,  Samuel  de,  xl 
Charlotte  Hall  (Md.),  xviii 
Charlotte  River,  the,    liv,    lvi; 
land  on,   lvii;  head  of,  31; 
trail  along,  52 ;  name  of,  58 
Charlotte,  Queen,  58-59 
Chehocton  (N.  Y.),  73 
Cheonadilla  (N.Y.),  56;  see 

Unadilla 
Cherry  Valley  Creek,  lvii 
Cherry  Valley  (N.  Y.),  settle- 
ment  of,    lix,    lxix,    12,    14; 
distance  to  from  Albany,  16, 
23 ;  on  the  road  to,  28 ;  the 
start  for,  29;  arrival  of  the 
author  at,  30;  Massacre  of, 
30,  46;  church  at,  31 ;  a  sul- 
phur spring  near,  32;  indus- 
tries at,  33,  35,  36;  pearl  ash 
works  at,  41 ;  men  obtained 
at,  47;  trail  to,  52,  55;  sup- 
plies from,  56,  60,  64,  y2,  81 
Chesapeake  Bay,  52 
"Chronicles   of    Cooperstown," 

the,  36 
City  Hall,  of  New  York,  xxiii 
City  Hotel,  3 
Clarendon,  Earls  of,  32 
Clarke,    Lieutenant    Governor, 

xxxiii,  xlvii,  xlviii,  32 
Clarke,  George  Hyde,  32 
Claus,  Colonel  Daniel,  24;  his 

home,  25,  27 
Clench's  Hotel,  22,  27 
Clinton,  Governor  George,  72 
Clinton,  General  James,  49 


92 


INDEX 


Coad,   J.    Francis,   xviii,  xix, 
xxi,  88 

Cobleskill   (N.Y.),  35 

Cochecton  (N.  Y.),  lxiv ;  vil- 
lage of,  73,  74 

Coeymans  (N.  Y.),  14 

Cohoes  (N.Y.),  meaning  of 
the  word,  19;  arrival  at,  19; 
the  falls  of,  described,  21,  81 

Colden,  Cadwallader,  xxiii,  li, 
lv 

Columbia  County   (N.Y.)i  17 

Connecticut,  xxx ;  population 
of,  xxxiii ;  people  from,  in 
Pennsylvania,  lxx 

Cookooze  (N.Y.),  Ixxii,  57, 
63 ;  path  to  from  Oghwaga, 
71,  73;  departure  from,  73, 

74 

Cookooze-Sapoze,  70 

Cornwall   (N.Y.),  7 

Cook  House,  70 

Cooper,  Fenimore,  xvii,  lxii,  26 

Cooper,  William,  xx,  36 

Cooperstown  (X.  Y.),  xviii,  6; 
a  bridge  at,  49 

Council  Rock,  36 

Craig,  Andrew,  36 

Cranbury  (N.J.)»3 

Croghan,  Colonel  George,  his 
grant  of  land  on  Otsego 
Lake,  xviii.  lx.  20;  his  bat- 
teau,  35  :  builds  a  house  on 
Otsego  Lake,  36;  his  patent, 
40;  at  his  home,  44,  47.  48; 
talks  of  building  a  sawmill, 
40.  59.  81 

Crosby,  Aaron,  xxiii 

Crosswicks  1  X.  J.),  3 

Croton  Bay,  5 

Croton  River,  xxxviii.  5 

Cunnahunta  (  X.  Y.),  63,  64,  73 

Cushietunk  1  X.  Y.),bdv,lxvii; 
settlement  at,  lxx.  57.  71.  73; 
road  from.  73.  74:  departure 


from,  75 ;  no  settlement  be- 
low, 76,  78,  80 

Cushietunk    Mountain,   74 

Cuyler,  Henry,  15 

Dartmouth  College,  47 

Davies,  John,  47 

Dean,  James,  65,  67;  goes  to 

Cookooze,  71,  86 
Dean,  Joseph,  xv 
Decker,  59,  74 
De  Curcelles  — ,  xlii 
De  Kay,  Thomas,  lxvii 
Delaware  Bay,  lxiii 
Delaware  Company,  lxx 
Delaware  County   (X.V.),  22. 

39 

Delaware  Indians,  the,  lvi.  lxi, 
lxv  ;  activity  of,  lxviii,  lxxi; 
at  Cookooze,  80,  83 

Delaware  River,  the.  xvi ;  name 
of,  lxi;  called  the  Fishkill. 
lix.  lxxi ;  coming  of  white 
men  to,  lxii;  west  branch  of, 
lxii ;  forts  on,  lxiii ;  Indian 
troubles  on,  Ixix  :  settlements 
on  west  branch  of,  lxxii ; 
head  of.  31;  source  of.  45; 
at  Cookooze.  63 ;  east  branch 
of.  67;  the  road  to  from 
Oghwaga.  71;  lands  on,  71. 
~2\  a  start  to  descend.  73; 
two  branches  of,  74:  lands 
on,  ~^\  at  Minisink.  70 

Delaware  Water  Cap.  lxvi. 
lxxi.  50.  ::.  79 

Dellius,  Doctor,  xliii.  xliv 

Denton's  Ferry,  8 

Denton's  Mill."  S 

Deposit  1  X.  \.).  lxxii.  70:  set 

Cool: 

Depuis,  Nicholas,  lxvi    :      ;~ 
Dongan.      Governor     Th 
his  "Report  on  tin-   Province" 

1  t  Xew  York,  xxvii  ;  on  the 


93 


INDEX 


immigration  to   New  York, 
xxxii,   xxxv ;   and  the  mis- 
sionaries,  xlvi ;   and  traders 
on  the  Susquehanna,  lv 
Dorn,  a  Dutchman,  56 
Dunlop,  Samuel,  lviii,  31 
Dutch,  the,  in  New  York,  xxv ; 

on  the  Delaware,  lxiii 
Dutchess  County  (N.  Y.), xxxii, 

6,9 
Dunfy  — ,  77 
Durham  boats,  57 
Durham   Creek,  78 
Dyer,  John,  13 


Easton  (Penn.),  lxiii,  lxiv,lxv, 
lxxi,   77,   78;   the   Delaware 
below,  79 
Edmeston,  Colonel,  lix 
Edwards,  Nathaniel,  xv,  xix 
Elizabeth   (N.J.),  3 
Erie,  Lake,  xxii 
Erie  Railway,  the,  lxiv,  70 
Esopus    (N.  Y.),  trading  post 
at,    xxix,    xxx,     xxxi,     lxvi, 
lxxii ;  meaning  of  the  word, 
8,  56;  road  to,  73 
Essex  County  (N.  J.),  77 
Evans,  Captain,  xliii ;  his  tract, 
xliv;  his  map,  29 


Ferguson,  Edward,  xix 

Finns,  the,  lxii 

Fishkill  (N.Y.),9 

Fishkill  Creek,  xxxv 

Fiske,  John,  xxv 

Fitch,  Jonathan,  xix 

Fletcher,  Governor,  xliv 

Fonda,  Major,  24 

Forbes,  Eli,  lvi 

Forks    of    the    Delaware,    the, 

lxiv 
Fort  Aurania  (N.  Y.),  xxvii 


Fort  George  (N.  Y.),  xxiv, 

xxvi 
Fort  Hunter  (N.  Y.),  xli, 

xlvii,  xlviii,  li,  24,  26 
Fort  Johnson    (N.  Y.),  li,  25; 

the  Mohawk  at,  26 
Fort  Nassau  (N.  J.),  lxii 
Fort  Niagara  (N.  Y.),  xliii; 

siege  of,  37 
Fort  Orange  (N.  Y.),  xxvii, 

16,  17 
Fort  Penn  (Penn.),  lxxi 
Fort  Schuyler   (N.Y.),  xv 
Fort  Stanwix    (N.Y.),  treaty 

of,  xv,  xvi,    xviii,    lix,    lxix, 

Hi ;  and  George  Croghan,  36 ; 

line  of  at  Unadilla,  63 
Forty  Fort  (Penn.),  lxxi 
Franklin,     Benjamdn,    at     the 

Fort    Stanwix    Treaty,    xvii, 

36 
Franklin,  William,  xix,  36 
Fraunces'  Tavern,  xxiv 
Fredericksborough,  5 
Freehold  (N.  J.),  14 
Freeman,  Bernardus,  xlvi 
Fry,  Colonel,  28,  81 
Frontenac,    Count,    xxvi ;     at- 
tacks Schenectady,  xliii 


George  III,  xvii,  59 
German  Camp,  the,  12 
German  Flats  (N.Y.),  1,  27 
Germans,  settle  near  Cherry 

Valley,  30 
Gilbert's  Lake,  42 
Golden  Hill,  battle  of,  xxiii 
Gordon,  Dowager  Duchess  of, 

13.  37-  52 
Goshen,  country  of,  7 
Gould,  Jay,  lxix,  lxxiii 
Great  Bend  (Penn.),  65 
Great  Western  Turnpike,  the, 

30 


94 


INDEX 


Green  Hill  (N.J.).xiv 
Guest,  Henry,  xviii 

Halsey,  Edward,  xix 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  xxx 
Hamilton  College,  37 
Hancock  |  X.  V. ).  lxxi.  57,  75 
Hardenburg  patent,  the,  21 
I  [arlem  River,  the,  4 
I  tarper  family,  the,  lix,  35 
Harper  Patent,  the,  60 

Harper's  Sawmill,   ^5 
Harpersfield  (N.  V*.),  35 
Harper,  William,  60 
Hartwick,  Tohn  C,  lix,  ^8,  42, 

48 
Hawley,  Gideon,  hi,  lxix 
1  [edge,  A.,  29 

Herkimer  settlement,  the,  xix 
Hicks,  John,  xix,  3,  29,  44,  8t 
Highlands,  the,  6,  7;  range  of, 

8,  9 
Hiokatoo,  31 
Hooper,  Adam,  78 
Howe,  Lord,  1 

Hudson,  Henry,  liii,  lxii 

Hudson  Valley,  the  settlement 
of,  xxii :  land  holdings  in, 
xxxiii  ;  Palatines  in,  xxxvii ; 
want  of  ministers  in,  xxxvii ; 
course  of  from  New  York, 
6;  lands  cultivated  in,  7.  8, 
0:  fish  in  the  river.  T2  :  near 
Albany,  15:  lands  in  above 
Albany,  10-20:  the  river 
open  in  winter  for  ships.  23 

Huguenots,  on  the  Hudson, 
xxxi,  lxvi,  lxxii 

Hunter,  Governor,  xxvii 

Hunterdon  County  (N.  J.),  78 

Hurley  (N.Y.),  xxx 

Hvdc  family,  the,  \2 

Hyde  Hall,  32 

Indians,    at    the    Fort    Stan- 


wix  Treaty,  xvi ;  forts  for 
defence  against,  xxvii;  hos- 
tilities from  in  the  Hudson 
Valley,  xxix  ;  almost  depopu- 
late the  province  of  New 
York,     xxxi;     and     Father 

Jogues,     xli  ;     and    the     Van 

Rensselaer  estate,  xxxiv; 
on  the  Delaware,  lxiv;  how 
they  carry  their  children,  5-': 
not  troubles,  ime,  56;  a  vil- 
lage of,  ()2.  63,  64;  houses  of 
at  Oghwaga,  r>5-()j:  at 
Cookooze,  70;  on  the 
quehanna.  85  ;  their  manners 
and  customs,  84!  their 
chiefs,  85;  their  origin,  87 

Iroquois  kings,  the.  37 

Isaac,  an  Indian.  I  .7.  68 

James,  an  Indian,  58,  71.  73 

Jesuits  in    New  York,   xlvi 

Jogues.   Isaac,  describes   New 
York,  xxv.  xli.  29 

Johnson,   Colonel  Guy,  23  :  his 
home,  25 

Johnson,  Sir  John,  24,  8l 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  and  the 
Fort  Stan wix Treaty,  xv-xvi : 
arrival  of  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  xlviii ;  at  Warren's 
Bush,  xlix :  at  Oghwaga, 
hi :  his  lands  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, lvii :  plans  a  fort  at 
Oghwaga,  lxx,  tt.  22:  his 
home  at  Johnstown 
36;  and  Joseph  Brant,  \y 
:  his  lands  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, 69, 

Johnston,  Rev.  William,  be,  1' 

Johnstown    |  N.  Y.  >.    24 

Jones.  Thomas,  xxiv 

Kaatskill :  see  CatskiU 
Kalm,  P(  ter,  i" 


95 


INDEX 


Kayaderosseras,  grant  of,  xlv 
Kennedy,  xxiv 
Kidd,  Captain,  xxxiii 
Kieffer,  H.  M.,  lxv 
Kikendahl,   Peter;    his    house, 

76,  77,  78 
Kincaid,  his  house,  24,  25,  28 
King  William's  War,  xlvii 
Kingsbridge  (N.  Y.),  4 
King's  College,  xxiv 
Kingston  (N.  Y),  settlement 

of,  xxx,  xxxii,  lxvi 
Kingston,  Ont,  xliii 
Kirkland,  Samuel,  lvi,  37 
Kithanne  River,  the,  lxi 
Kittatinny  Mountains,  the,  77, 

78 
Kleynties  — ,  xl,  liii 

Kortright,  Lawrence,  lx 


Lackawaxen  (Penn.),  75 
Lake  George,  1 ;  battle  of,  37 
La  Salle,  the  explorer,  xlii 
Laurens  (N.  Y.),  town  of, 

xviii 
"Leather  Stocking  Tales," 

the,  36 
Lebanon  (Conn.),  37,  47 
Lehigh  River,  the,  lxiv 
Lenni-Lenapes,  the,  lxi;  see 

Delazuare  Indians 
Lenox  Library,  the,  xxi 
Lindesay,  John,  lvii,  lviii 
Little  Egg  Harbor  (N.  J.), 

lxiv 
Little  Sopus  (N.  Y.),  9 
Livingston's    Manor     (N.  Y.), 

xxxv,  xxxvi,  xxxvii,   II,  12 
Livingston,     Richard     R.,    the 

Chancellor,  11 
Londonderry  (N.H.),  lviii 
Lowe,  Nicholas,  lix,  54 
Lull,  Benjamin,  40 
Lynn  (Mass.),  xxx 


Mabie  House,  the,  xlii 

Manhasset,  xxx 

Manhattan,  origin  of  the  name, 
lxii 

Manunka  Chunk  (N.  J.),  78 

Marbletown  (N.  Y.),  30 

Marlborough  (N.Y.),  8 

Marshall,  Edward,  79,  80 

Martiler's  Rock,  6 

Martin's^  Patent,  35 

Mathews,  Alfred,  lxx 

Maryland,  population  of, 
xxxviii,  31 

Matteson  — ,  xx 

Megapolensis,  Rev.  Dr.,  xl 

Meynall,  Joseph,  xix 

Middlefield  (N.Y.),  lix 

Milet,  the  missionary,  liii 

Miller,  Godfrey,  35 

Miln,  John,  xvii 

Minisink  (N.  Y.),  settlement 
of,  xxxi,  xxxii,  lxvi ;  growth 
of,  lxvii ;  trouble  in,  lxvii ; 
on  the  road  to  Pennsylvania, 
lxxi,  8,  73 ;  first  house  in, 
75 ;  no  settlement  above, 
76 

Mohawk  River,  the;  Indians 
of,  at  Fort  Hunter,  24;  up- 
per Indian  castle  on,  28; 
Indians  following  husbandry 
on,  60;  first  knowledge  of, 
xl ;  Palatines  arrive  on, 
xxxvii ;  grants  of  land  on, 
xliii,  xlv;  settlement  of, 
xlv,  xlvii ;  Indian's  mission 
of,  xlvi;  Indians  from  set- 
tled at  Oghwaga,  liv; 
mouths  of,  19;  lands  on, 
21;  at  Schenectady,  23;  and 
the  Border  Wars,  24;  near 
Fort  Johnson,  26;  families 
from  going  to  Pennsylvania, 
56 

Mohicans,  devastate  the  Hud- 


96 


INDEX 


son  Valley,  xxx ;   a    village 

of,  62,  11 
Mongaup  River,  the,  76 
Montcalm,  General,  xxxix 
Montgomery,  General  Richard, 

11,24 
Moodna  Creek,  7 
Moore,  George  H.,  xxi,  87 
Moore,  General  Sir  Henry,  4, 

11 
Morgan's  Riflemen,  72 
Morris,  Governor,  lxviii 
Morris,  General  Jacob,  42 
Morris,  Lewis,  13 
Morris,  Richard,  13 
Morris,  Colonel  Roger,  xxxv 
Morris,   Colonel   Staats   Long, 

13,  37,  42,  52,  56 
Morrisania  (N.  Y.),  13 
Moseley,   Eleazer,   lvi,  64;  his 

work  at  Oghwaga,  65,  67,  68 
Murderer's  Creek,  7 
Musconetcung  Mountains,  the, 

78 
Musconetcung  River,    the,    78 
Mount  Vision   (X.Y.),  xix 
Meyers  — ,  35 

Narrows,  the,  4 
Natchez  (Miss.),  xx 
Newark   (N.J.),  lxxiii,  3 
Newberrv,  Tohn,  xix,  8 
New  Beverly  (X.  J.),  lxiii 
New     England,     men      from, 
crossing     to     the     Susque- 
hanna, 8 
New     Hampshire,     population 

of.  xxxviii 
New    Jersey,     Smith's     history 
of,      xiv:      population      of, 
xxxviii  ;     troubles     of.     with 
New  York.  Ixvii 
Newman  — .  70 
New  Netherlands,  map  of, 
xxvii 


New  Paltz  (N.Y.)i  xxxii 
New  Windsor  (N.  Y.),  7 
New  York,  population  of  the 
province     of,      xiii,       xxiii, 
xxxviii ;    its    northern    fron- 
tier,    xxvi ;     population     of, 
xxxii;  a  penal  colony,  xxxiii ; 
in  the  French  War,  xxxix ; 
Figurative  Map  of,  xl 
New  York  City,   in    1752,  de- 
scribed,  xxiv,   xxix ;   freight 
to,   from  Albany,    6;    roads 
from,  to  Albany,  9 ;  Niagara, 
xliii 
Non-Importation  Agreement, 

xxiii 
North  Carolina,  population  of, 

xxxviii 
North  Station  Point,  lxvii 
Nbtt,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  31 

Oaks  Creek,  37;  sec  Oaksncc 
Oaksnee,  37;  lands  on,  38,  44 
Oghwaga,    trade    at,    xlix;    an 
old    town,    liii :    missionaries 
at,    lvi ;    Gideon    Hawley    at. 
lxix ;   Indians   from.  37 ;  the 
Indian     town    at.    47 ;    path 
of  the  Indian-    to,    5". 
arrival      at,      64;       Indian 
houses    at.    65-66;    services 
at.  67;  described.  68;  a  ser- 
mon at.  68 ;  path    from     to 
Cookooze,     70 ;     destruction 

of.  72.  73 

Ohio  River,  the.  xvi 

"i  'Id  New  York  Frontier," 

the,  lvi 
(  meida  County  (N  Y.)i  xv 
I  hieida  Indians,  the.  71 
Oneida  Lake,  xvi,  liv 
Oneonta  |  X.  Y.)«  in  ^H'  0\ 

patent,     xvii.     6;     store1 
near.  57 ;  village  of.  s~ :  the 
creek. '59.  60. 


97 


INDEX 


Onondaga  Indians,  the,  83 
Onoyarenton ;  see   Oneonta 
Ontario  Lake,  xl 
Orange  County  (N.  Y.),  xxxi, 
xxxii,  lxvii;  the  line  of,  5, 

6,7 
Oriskany,  Battle  of,  xv 
Oswego  (N.Y.),  xlv,  1 
Otego,  the  patent,   survey  of, 
xv ;  location  of,  xvii ;  lands 
purchased     on,      3 ;      settle- 
ments on,  6,  31,  38,  39;  is- 
lands in   the  creek,   42,   49; 
ascent  of  the  creek,  50,  51; 
timber  on,  53-55 ;  a  mill  on, 
60;  length  of  the  creek,  60, 
72,  81 
Otego,  the  village  of,  40 
Otsdawa  Creek,  the,  xviii 
Otsego  County  (N.  Y.),  xvii 
Otsego  Lake,  grant  of  land  on, 
xvii,  xx,  lvii ;  settlement  on, 
lx ;    white    men    at,    xl,    li ; 
Indians    at,     liv;    the    only 
wagon  road  to,  8,    34;    the 
patent,  40 ;   lands   near,  45 ; 
a  canoe    built   on,    46;    trail 
to,  52,  57,  81 
Otseningo  (N.  Y.),  55,  64 
Otter's,  77-78 
Ouleout  Creek,  the,  lx 


Palatine  Bridge  (N.  Y.),  28  ^ 
Palatine  Germans,  the,  xxxvii; 
on  the  Susquehanna,  lv;  on 
the   Delaware,   lxv;   at   Liv- 
ingston Manor,  12;  at  Scho- 
harie, 33 
Palisades,  the,  4 
Parkman,  Francis,  xli ;  quoted, 

16 
PaulusHook  (N.J.),3,  81 
Peace  of  Utrecht,  the,  xlv 
Pennamite  Wars,  the,  56 


Pennsylvania,  population  of, 

xxxviii 
Pennsylvania  Dutch,  the,  lvi 
Penn,  William,  growth  of  his 

colony    after    he    made    his 

treaty,    lxii ;     founds    West 

Jersey,  lxiv,  87 
Peter,  an  Indian,  67,  68 
Philadelphia,  xxiv,  lxiii 
Philipse,  Colonel,  xxxvi 
Philipse,  Frederick,  xxxv 
Philipse,  Mary,  xxxv 
Philipse  Manor,  xxxviii; 

lands  at  described,  5 
Picken,   Robert,   37;   his   map, 

43 ;  and  the  survey,  44,  45, 

46 
Pocono  Mountains,  lxxi,  56 
Pohatkong,  78 
Polopel's  Island,  6 
Pondicherry,  siege  of,  13 
Pontiac,  conspiracy  of,  li 
Popaghton,  the,  branch  of  the 

Delaware,  73 ;  forks  of,  73 ; 

surveyors  at,  j6 
Port  Jervis  (N.  Y.),  lxiv,  lxvi, 

lxx,  lxxii 
Post    Office    building,    the,    in 

New  York  City,  xxiii 
Potter,   Bishop  Henry  C,  31, 

49 
Poughkeepsie  (N.  Y.),  9 
Prevost,     Captain     Augustine, 

lx,   29,   33 ;    arrival    at    his 

house,  34,  35 ;  sells  land,  49, 

81 

Quakers,  the,  xxx,  lxiii 

Quebec,  fall  of,  xxvi ;  battle 
of,  xxxix 

Queen  Anne  and  the  Palatines, 
xxxvii,  xlvii ;  visited  by  Iro- 
quois kings,  37 

Queen  Anne's  Parsonage 
xlvii 


98 


INDEX 


Red  Kill  (N.Y.),  31 
Rensselaer  County  (N.  Y.), 

Rensselaer wvck,  manor  of,  14, 

Riche,  Thomas,  78 

Richfield  (N.Y.),  lvii,  lix,  34; 

the  lake  at,  38 
Ridgeway,    William,    3 ;   helps 

make  the  Otego  survey,  40, 

44,  49,  60,  61,  81 
Rogers's  Island,  13 
Rome  (N.  Y.),  xv 
Romboudt  manor,  the,  xxxv 
Rondout,  trading  post  at, 

xxix 
Rosecrantz  — ,  76 


St.  Paul's  Church,  in  New 
York  City.  30 

Saratoga,  xlvii 

Schenevus  Creek,  lix,  55 ;  a 
start  for,  51  ;  trail  to,  55,  58 

Schenectady,  grant  of  land  at, 
xlii ;  destroyed,  xliii ; mission- 
aries at.  xlvi ;  condition  of, 
li ;  distance  of  from  Al- 
bany, 19 ;  route  to  from  Co- 
hoes,  20;  described,  22,  23, 
30;  the  Mohawk  at,  25,  27, 
80 

Schodack.  xxx,  14 

Schoharie,  xxxvii.  lv :  dis- 
tance to  from  Catskill.  12; 
route  to  from  the  Hudson, 
13;  the  river,  24,  31;  set- 
tlers at.  33,  35;  trail  to,  52, 

55 
Schoharie  Crook-,  the,  lvii 
Schoonhoven,  Richard.  4 
Schuyler,  David,  lvii,  38 
Schuyler.  Colonel,  xxxvi 
Schuyler's  Lake,  38 
Schuyler.  Colonel  Peter,  xlvii 


Schuyler,  General  Philip,  15 
Scotch   Irish,   on   the   Susque- 
hanna, lviii,  30 
Scotoc's  Island,  14 
Scramlin's,  28,  29,  30 
Scutter's  Island,  14 
Sergeant,  John,  lvii 
Shackamaxon,  treaty  of,  lxiii 
"Shades  of  Death,"  the,  lxxi 
Sharon  Springs  (N.Y.),  32 
Shamokin  (Penn.),  lxix 
Shawnee  Indians,  83 
Shohola  (Penn.),  75 
Sidnev  <  X.  Y. ),  village  of,  40, 

Simitiere,   P.  E.  du,    xxi ;    his 

copy  <>f  this  journal,  88 
Skeneves :  see  Schenevus 
Sleeper,  John,  46,  54 

Sleeper,  Joseph,  46 
Sleepy  Hollow  (X.Y.),  5 
Smack's  Island,  17 
Smith's  Lake.  42 
Smith.   Colonel,   xxxii 
Smith  Hall,  xviu 
Smith.  Captain  John,  liii 
Smith.     Richard.      importance 
of   his   journal,   xiii-xiv;   his 
family,  xiv  :  his  t<  >ur.  xv  ;    be- 
gins to  settle  his  tract,  xiv ; 
scribes  his  house,  xix  ;  re- 
moves to  Smith  Hall,  xx  :  or- 
iginal     manuscript     of      his 
journal,      xxi :     changes     he 
made      in      his      nfanuscript, 
xxvi.  xxvii ;  his  visit  to  the 
Hudson  Valley,  xxvii:  when 
he   visited   the    Susquehanna 
Valley,  be;  his  journey  from 
New     York 
City.  3  :   from  New  York  to 
Albany,    4-t8     he    lands    at 
-ton's  Mill.  S:    at    Peek- 
man's     Manor,     10;     meets 
Hans,   an   Indian,    11;   lands 


99 


INDEX 


on  the  Catskill  shore,  13 ;  de- 
scribes Albany,  16-18;  leaves 
Albany  for  Cohoes,  19;  de- 
scribes Cohoes  Falls,  20; 
podges  in  Schenectady,  22- 
23;  visits  the  Johnsons,  23- 
25;  at  Kincaid's,  26-27;  at 
Canajoharie,  28;  starts  for 
Cherry  Valley,  29;  Cherry 
Valley  described,  30-31 ; 
reaches  Otsego  Lake  35 ; 
meets  Colonel  Croghan,  36; 
starts  to  make  his  survey, 
37;  dines  on  his  own  terri- 
tory, 39;  describes  the  Ot- 
ego  country,  40-43 ;  returns 
to  Croghan,  44;  describes 
lands  about  Otsego  Lake, 
45-46;  launches  a  canoe,  46; 
engages  Joseph  Brant  as  a 
guide,  47;  describes  a  bark 
canoe,  48;  describes  lands  on 
the  Otego  Patent,  50-51 ; 
starts  for  Schenevus,  51-52; 
describes  his  course,  53-54; 
meets  Dorn,  a  Dutchman, 
56;  starts  for  Oghwaga,  58; 
passes  the  Charlotte,  58 ;  ar- 
rives at  the  mouth  of  the 
Otego,  60;  at  a  village  of 
Mohicans,  62 ;  engages 
another  guide,  63 ;  arrives  at 
Cunnahunta,  63 ;  reaches 
Oghwaga,  64 ;  describes  that 
town,  65-67 ;  attends  ser- 
vices, 67-68 ;  leaves  for  Cook- 
ooze,  70;  at  Cookooze,  72, 
73 ;  at  Cushietunk,  75 ; 
reaches  Fort  Jervis,  76 ;  at 
the  Delaware  Vater  Gap, 
J7\  at  Easton,  78;  at  Tren- 
ton, 70 ;  reaches  Burlington, 
80:  his  table  of  his  tour, 
81-82 ;  his  notes  on  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  In- 


dians, 83-88;  copies  of     his 

journal,  88 
Smith,  Richard  R.,  xx 
Smith  River,  lxi 
Smith,  Samuel,  xiv 
Smollett,  Tobias,  xxi 
Sopus ;  see  E  so  pus 
Sopus  Kill,  12 
Southampton  (L.  I.),  xxx 
Speir,  Archibald  W.,  lxix 
Spencer,  Rev.  Elihu,  lvi 
Spencer,  Thomas,  72 
Springfield  (N.  Y.),  29,  35 
Spuyten  Duyvil  (N.  Y.),  4 
Stamp  Act  Congress,  the, 

xxiii 
Stamford  (N.  Y.),  lxxii,  31 
Station  Point,  the  north,  73,  74 
Steele,  O.  W.,  22 
Steele,  Richard,  t>7 
Stone,  W.  L.,  xxxi,  24 
Storm  King,  7 
Stringer,  Doctor,  31 
Stroudsburg  (Penn.),  lxxi 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  xxix 
Sub-Treasury,  the,  in  New 

York,  xxiii 
Sullivan  County  (N.  Y.),  22 
Sullivan,  General  John,  24;  his 

expedition,  49,  72 
Summit  Lake,  31;  trail  to,  52; 

Van  Valkenburg  killed     on, 

53 
Susquehanna  River,  the,  xvi ; 
traders  on,  lv ;  first  white 
men  on,  liii ;  first  title  to, 
lvii ;  settlers  on,  lx ;  trouble 
on,  lxix ;  settlers  on,  8 ;  Mor- 
ris patent  on,  13;  lands  on 
owned  by  General  Brad- 
street,  15 ;  settlements  on, 
29;  sources  of,  36;  arrival 
on,  43-44:  course  of,  49; 
trail  on,  52;  lands  on,  61; 
widening  of,  64,  81 


IOO 


INDEX 


Sussex  County  (X.  J.),  lxii,  78 

Talleyrand,  Prince,  42 
Tamanend,  lxii 
Tammany,  lxii 
Tappan  (N.Y.),  4 
Tarrytown  (N.  Y.),  5 
Teyonadelhough  (N.  Y.),  56; 

see  Unadilla 
Thayendanegea,  37;  see  Brant, 

Joseph 
Tioga  Point  (Penn.),  49 
Treaty  of  Paris,  the,  xxvi 
Trenton  (N.  J.).  79,  80 
Tribes  Hill  (N.Y.),  24,25 
Trumbull,  John,  67 
Trvon    County,    population    of, 

xiii ;  militia  of,  lviii,  lx,  24, 

28 
Tryon,   Governor  William,  24, 

25 
Tunaderrah  ;  see  Unadilla 
Tunadilla ;  See  Unadilla 
Tunnicliffe,  family  of,  lix 
Tuscaroras,  the,  liv 
Tuscarora  Town.  67,  83 
Tyler,  Bazilael,  75,  79 

Ulster  County  (N.Y.),  xxxii. 
6,  22 

Una,  an  Indian,  63,  71,  75 

Unadilla.  origin  of  the  name. 
39;  village  of.  40;  trail  at. 
56;  Mohicans  at,  63,  72:  de- 
struction of,  72 

Unadilla  River,  the,  xvi.  liv. 
lvii.  lix:  tributaries  of.  39, 
42;  trail  along,  52;  mouth 
of,  62,  64 

Utica,  xliii 

Van  Camp.  Colonel.  77 
Van  Cortlandt,  Colonel,  xxxvi 
Van  Cortlandt  Manor,  the 
xxxv,  5 


Van  Cortlandt,  Oliver,  5 
Van  Cortlandt,  Stephanus,  5 
Van  Curler,  Arent,  xlii 
Van  der  I  kmck,  \I 
Van  Rensselaer,  Colonel  John, 

15 
Van  Rensselaer,  Killien,  xxxiv, 

17 ;  his  lands,  21 
Van  Rensselaer,  Stephen,  17 
Van    Rensselaer     Manor,     the, 

beginnings   of,   xxiv,   xxxvi, 

xlii 
Van   Rensselaer,   Mrs.    Schuy- 
ler, xxxiv 
Van  Valkenburg,  Joachim,  lix, 

53 :  see  )' oleum's 
Vastric  Island,  13 
Verplanck   Manor,  the,  xxxv 
Virginia,  population  of, 

xxxviii 
Visscher  Map,  the,  xxvii,  liv 

Waggoner's  Patent,  35 
Walkill  (N.Y.),  9 
Walking  Purchase,  the.  lxv,  79 
Wall  Street  (N.  Y.  City). 

xxiii,  xxxiii 
Wallace  Patent,  the,  lvii 
Wallace.  Alexander,  62 
Wallace.  Hugh,  62 
Walloons,  settle  on  Manhattan 

Island,      xxvi ;     in      Albany. 

xxvii :  on  the  Hudson,  xxxi, 
Walpack,  78 
Walton,  William,  lx 
Walton  House,  the,  xxiv 
Wappinger  Creek,  xxxv 
Warren's   Bush    (N.Y.),  xlviii 
Warren.  Sir  Peter,  xlviii 
Washington.  I  I  XXV, 

IT 

Wautcgbe ;  see  0 
Waywayyonda  (N.  Y.),  **x'i 
Wells.  Robert,  on  the  tOUT  with 
Afr.    Smith.    20.    20,   44.    5°. 


IOI 


INDEX 


60;  observes  transit  of  Ve- 
nus, 64;  on  his  way  home 
with  Mr.  Smith,  71,  78,  80, 
81 

Wells,  John,  30 

Wells,  Major,  builds  a  fort  at 
Oghwaga,  lxx;  arrival  at 
his  house  in  Cherry  Valley, 
30;  at  service  with,  31;  his 
farm,  32;  his  store,  etc.,  33, 
35,  65,  81 

West  Indies,  flour  sent  to,  xiv 

West  India  Company,  the, 
xxxiv 

West  Jersey,  lxiv 

West  Kill,  35 

Westmoreland  County  (Penn.), 
lxxi 

Wheelock,  Doctor  Eleazer,  37; 
his  school,  47 

Wicwise  — ,  68 

Wilkes  Bar  re  (Penn.),  lxxi 


Wiltwick   (N.Y.),  settlement 
of,  XXX 

Windsor    (Conn.),   35 

Wise,  Thomas,  xix 

Wolfe,  General  James,  xxxix 

Woodbridge  (N.J.),  3 

Wyalusing  (Penn.),  lxix 

Wyoming  (Penn.),  John  But- 
ler at,  xvii,  lxv;  people  from 
Connecticut  in,  lxx ;  Massa- 
cre of,  24;  road  from  to 
Bethlehem,  57;  settlers 
bound  for,  56,  68 


Yager,  Willard  E.,  86 

Yale  University,  57 

Yates,  Christopher,  40 

Yokum's,  arrival  at,  52;  his 
settlement,  53,  55 ;  road 
from  to  Cherry  Valley,  57 

Yonkers,  xxxv,  xxxviii,  5 


I02 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERK 

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